


καιρός

by PeachyJaemin



Category: IZONE (Band), NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), fromis_9 (Band)
Genre: Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), M/M, Minor Angst, Some Fluff, Son of Aphrodite Jaemin, Son of Nike Jeno, markhyuck, multiple mentions of blood, nomin, warning: mentions of fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2019-10-27 05:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17761058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachyJaemin/pseuds/PeachyJaemin
Summary: Jeno’s whole life completely changed when he was told he was the son of the goddess Nike, on his first day at Camp Half-Blood he sees Jaemin, the son of Aphrodite, and is instantly smitten ✨





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> καιρός (kairos) - The perfect delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place

   Jeno felt like his lungs were on fire as he ran up Half Blood Hill, a monster close on his tail. He could see a sign reading _Camp Half Blood_ in Ancient Greek up ahead, and if his father was right he'd be safe once he passed that sign and was in the camp, there was only a little further to go. He had so much to process in so little time, he almost didn't believe what was going on, it still felt like a dream.

   The sudden pain he felt against his back was most definitely real, though.

   The monster had thrown a tree branch and hit him directly in the back, sending him falling to the ground. He scrambled to his feet as quickly as possible as he watched the monster start to run towards him. Just as he managed to get to his feet the monster managed to catch up; Jeno knew he wouldn't be able to outrun the monster, it was faster than him and only about a hundred yards behind him. Suddenly, a hundred yards turned to fifty. And fifty to twenty five.  He knew he wouldn't even have time to dodge the beast, he did the only thing he could think to do and ducked between the monster's legs. He watched it run straight into a tree and took that as an opportunity to run as fast as he could towards the camp. The beast was only stunned by the impact with the tree but Jeno knew it would recover in seconds. It would take a few moments for the monster to start his charge, by the time it did start running again Jeno knew he would be close enough to the entrance to get through it before the monster caught up.

   Jeno didn't have time to think before he was running towards the entrance. The archway reading  _Camp Half Blood_ was getting closer and he was almost there when he heard the beast roar and start another charge. He ran as fast as he possibly could, imagining he was running a race at a track meet. He was barely able to make it through the entrance before he heard the thud of the beast running into the invisible barrier that surrounded the camp.

   Jeno let out a sigh of relief as he sank down to his knees, panting as the adrenaline started to wear off and the exhaustion set in. He heard a ton of hurried footsteps as he sat there; he figured it was because of the loud sound that came with the monster slamming into the barrier. 

   "Hey man, you alright?" Jeno heard a voice in front of him ask. He looked up to see goat legs that led up to a human torso. He should have been weirded out but he could recall his father telling him about goat-human hybrids on the way to camp.  _What did he say they were called again? Satyrs? Yeah I think that's right._ Jeno thought to himself as he looked at the boy.

   "Yeah, I'm fine." he replied, grabbing the satyr's outstretched hand and pulling himself up off of the ground. He completely forgot about the crowd of campers so when he stood up only to see a crowd of campers in orange t-shirts reading  _Camp Half-Blood_ he was a bit taken aback. as he looked past them he saw a large house with blue walls and a white roof. It looked like any house you'd see in any suburban neighborhood, he would have to ask someone what that was later. Right next to the house was a volleyball court, he assumed most of the campers in front of him had been playing volleyball when he got there.

   "What was that loud thud?" a girl with blonde hair asked, wide eyed and speaking with more animation in her voice and actions than Jeno had ever seen. Next to her was a boy with the same blonde hair gripping her arm; he guessed they were brother and sister.   

    _"You Hebe kids are always so curious about everything..._ _"_ the satyr muttered under his breath, visibly annoyed. "Did you get chased here by a monster?" Jeno simply nodded his head, "Then is was the Minotaur, he's been lurking around outside the camp for years out of anger towards Poseidon's son. It's really bothersome if I'm being honest."

   The two blonde campers started yelling about something and the satyr was trying to get them to shut up. Jeno didn't care enough to listen as his eyes were trained on a specific boy in the crowd of campers which was slowly dissipating. He had soft looking light brown hair and big doe eyes that looked like they were sparkling. He was talking to some other campers. When Jeno saw the boy smile and laugh he could feel his heart melting.

   Jeno was snapped out of his trance by a hand being waved in front of his face, "You still with us newbie? Or did that Minotaur give you a concussion somehow?" the satyr asked. Jeno couldn't help but think maybe it did when it threw that tree at his back but he decided not to mention that.

   "Yeah sorry, spacing out." Jeno responded, turning his attention back to the satyr.

   "It's alright, I'm sure you're exhausted, anyway, what's your name?"

   "Uh, Jeno, Lee Jeno."

   Jeno watched the satyr's eyes widen in realization, "Oh, you're Jeno! Your mother, Nike, told us you would be coming, you talked to her right?" Jeno watched as the campers began muttering to each other in response to the satyr's words.

   "Yeah, she spoke with me, she told my dad to bring me here." Jeno couldn't help but feel nervous speaking with such a large crowd of campers around him.

   "That's great! That means we can put you in the Nike cabin straight away. Normally we put new campers into the Hermes cabin but since your mother spoke with you, pretty much already claiming you, we don't need to worry about overfilling poor cabin eleven anymore than it already is." the satyr rambled. Jeno watched as the campers dispersed, leaving him and the satyr alone. "Right, I never told you my name, I'm Mark, I'll show you around camp and help you get used to how things work around here."

   Mark started walking into the camp and Jeno followed, "Who were those two blonde kids you were talking to?" Jeno asked, he had so many questions already and he had only seen the entrance to the camp.

   "That was Chenle and Jiheon, both children of Hebe, the goddess of youth. They're good kids but they get on my nerves sometimes with their never ending curiosity about every little thing. They can't really help it though, it's one of their traits from their mother." Mark answered, only leaving Jeno with more questions as he was shown around the camp.

   "So, do all of the campers have their own parent specific quirks?" Jeno asked, mainly wondering what  _his own_ abilities were.

   "Absolutely. You along with your brothers and sisters are known to be extremely competitive as well as having increased strength and speed." Mark explained. It made sense to Jeno, he had always been a strong athlete in school and had been known for getting fired up easily.

   Their last stop on the little camp tour was the cabins. The cabins were laid out with twelve of them in a U formation with eight cabins behind them in a second U shape with four on each side.

   Mark led him along the walkway through the tip of the U where cabins 1 and 2 sat. As they walked through Mark simply told Jeno which god each cabin was for as the latter admired each cabin's unique layout and appearance. The cabins on the left were the odd number cabins and were dedicated to male gods. Respectively the ones on the right were even numbered cabins for the goddesses. 

   Cabins 1 and 2 were for children of Zeus and Hera. Zeus's cabin was a marble building that looked almost like a masoleum. It had heavy columns and big bronze doors. The doors were polished in a way that provided a holographic effect that looked like lightning bolts. Hera's cabin was also made of marble but was even more elegant looking. It had slim columns with designs of peacock feathers and pomegranates.

   Cabins 3 and 4 were for Poseidon and Demeter. Poseidon's cabin was a long, low building made of rough sea stone with coral at the ends of the cabin. The door was decorated with a sea shell and a trident. Demeter's cabin was covered in flowers and tomato plants grew on the walls and doorway. There was no door on the cabin so Jeno could see that the roof was made of glass and the floor was grass, as if it were a green house.

   Jeno noticed a boy with sun-kissed skin wearing a straw hat and taking a nap in the grass outside the cabin. "Who's that?" Jeno asked, not missing the way Mark's face dusted pink as he glanced at the boy.

   "That's Lee Donghyuck, son of Demeter, he's obsessed with gardening and loves the outdoors so you'll probably see him napping out there a lot." Mark explained, his words coming out quicker than usual.

   They moved on to cabins 5 and 6 which were for the children of Ares and Athena. Jeno felt intimidated just looking at the Ares cabin. It was painted red with a barbed wire rood and a large boar's head on the door. Just to top it off, Mark mentioned that it's rumored that there's land mines  _in_ the cabin. The children of the god of war were clearly no joke. On the other hand, Athena's cabin was a simple gray with silver curtains and an owl on the door to symbolize intelligence.

   Next was 7 and 8 which were Apollo and Artemis. Apollo's cabin was made to appear to be made out of pure gold as Apollo is the god of the sun. Artemis's cabin was the complete opposite as she's the goddess of the moon. The cabin was silver with matching silver curtains and similar to Apollo's, Artemis's cabin glowed at night as if it was reflecting moonlight.

   "Why do some of the cabins look so empty?" Jeno asked, a few looked completely untouched.

   Some of the gods have not demi-god children. Hera is loyal to Zeus so she has no children with mortals and Artemis is a virgin goddess. Hera's cabin is only there to honor her and Artemis's cabin is their for her hunters to stay in if they need to visit the camp for some reason. The big three gods on the other hand, barely have any children right now because they were banned from having children after World War II, but of course they broke that rule and they have several children running around. Percy Jackson and Thalia Grace are two of the more popular examples. We only have one child of the big three at camp currently." Jeno had a hard time wrapping his head around all of the information, "Anyway, enough of the history lesson, let's continue."

   They moved down to cabins 9 and 10 in which the children of Hephaestus and Aphrodite stayed. Hephaestus’s cabin looked like a small factory with brick walls. There were smokestacks and logs of gears at the entrance. In Mark’s words, the Aphrodite cabin looked like a life-size Barbie house. The cabin was made of wood with a painted blue roof, pink walls, and white window trim. From the outside he could see what looked to be baby blue lace curtains. But what really caught his eye was that same pretty boy from earlier, sitting on the stairs leading up to the cabin’s porch, chatting with a girl who Jeno assumed was from the same cabin.

   “So, which one are you making googly eyes at?” Mark asked, only then did Jeno realize he had been spaced out, completely in awe staring at the boy.

   “The boy, who is he?” Jeno asked, eager to learn more about him. 

   “That’s Na Jaemin, son of Aphrodite. He’s the only boy in their cabin right now. He’s one of the best charmspeakers to come to this camp.” Mark explained, both of them pausing their walking to talk.

   “Charmspeak?” Jeno asked. There was still so much he had to learn, he was starting to realize just how little Greek “mythology” he was taught in school.

   “Charmspeaking is an ability mostly held by children of Aphrodite, it’s rare though even for them to be born with a natural talent at it. Jaemin’s currently the only camper who can charmspeak. Charmspeak is a type of hypnotism which the speaker can use to get people to do whatever they want. Jaemin usually uses it in fights to render his opponents immobile. Charmspeak can be neutralized by gold and people with stron wills aren’t affected.” Mark explained, Jeno’s head felt like it was about to explode.

   “People with strong wills?” 

   “Yes, children of Ares, Nike, Zeus, Nemesis, and Athena aren’t affected by charmspeaking because they tend to be more focused on strategy and fighting. They don’t fall easily to a pretty boy flirting with them.” Jeno nodded his head in understanding, eyes remaining trained on the pretty boy. Mark definitely didn’t miss the flush on Jeno’s cheeks, “you’re crushing on him hard aren’t you?” Mark teased, laughing as Jeno’s cheeks darkened even more.

   “Maybe... that’s not a bad thing, right?” Jeno questioned, hopeful the answer would be no.

   “Of course not! You’re probably his type to be honest. Just talk to him later during free time.” Mark advised, “Anyway, let’s move on.” 

   Jeno tore his eyes away from Jaemin as him and Mark continued to walk down the main path through the cabins. The last two cabins in the center of the U were 11 and 12, Hermes and Dionysus. The Hermes cabin was just a basic looking cabin with a caduceus on the door. Mark explained that it was in bad condition from being overpopulated by unclaimed campers. The Dionysus cabin's walls were lined with grapes. The few children he had grew the strawberries in the camp's farm.

   They went around behind the Dionysus cabin to go down the second row of even numbered cabins; all of the cabins in this row looked fairly similar. Mark told Jeno that it was because they were added fairly recently.

   "Why weren't they here originally?" Jeno asked as they walked past cabins 14, 16, 18, and 20; the cabins for Iris, Nemesis, Hebe, and Hecate respectively.

   "When the camp was first built there were only cabins for the twelve Olympians but we had to add more since more and more children of these gods and goddesses showed up. The Hermes cabin is crowded enough, the last thing they need is a ton of campers who've already been claimed." Mark informed.

   They walked past the Zeus and Hera cabins again to go down the second row of odd numbered cabins starting from cabin 19 which was for Tyche. The next one down was cabin 17, the Nike cabin, and that's where they stopped as it was Jeno's cabin.

   Mark didn't leave out the last two cabins though, explaining that number 15 was Hypnos and number 13 was Hades. The Hypnos cabin was made of mud with a rush roof and a wreath of red poppies. Jeno was getting the chills just looking at it. Mark told him that the Hypnos cabin was even more dangerous than the Ares cabin, since Hypnos is the god of sleep just stepping foot inside the cabin would put anyone into a deep slumber. The Hades cabin was windowless and made of obsidian. There were heavy columns, torches that burned Greek fire on the walls, and a skull on the door. Sitting on the steps to the cabin was a short boy who looked like he couldn't even kill a fly.

   "Huang Renjun, son of Hades. Don't be fooled by how cute he is, even some of the Ares kids are wary around him which is really saying something." Mark told Jeno as if he had read his mind, the way Mark spoke about Renjun led Jeno to believe they were close friends.

   "Are you friends with him?" Jeno asked, wanting to know if his assumptions were true. In reality he was mostly interested in how a satyr became friends with the son of Hades.

   "Yup, I was the one assigned to escort him to camp." Mark had a proud look on his face as he spoke. 

   "Escort? Why did he have to be escorted?"

   "The more powerful the demi-god the more monsters that want them dead. Children of the big three are in the most danger because of it. Of course there are special cases, Jaemin for example." Mark explained, looking deep in thought.

   "Jaemin? But he's one of Aphrodite's kids, how strong could he be?"

   "He excels at everything he does and it's almost as if all of his godly traits were enhanced. He's one of the most skilled charmspeakers to ever come to this camp in general, he can tame and ride any pegasus effortlessly, he has an extremely strong will when it comes to learning magic and fighting, which is rare enough for children of Aphrodite on its own. But the strongest thing of all is an ability no child of Aphrodite has ever had before. He can heal his wounds simply by being touched by his loved ones."

   Jeno was in awe at Mark's explanation, barely even able to process all of it. It only made him more curious about the abilities of other campers. "What abilities do children of Hades have?"

   Mark had to stop and think for a moment before answering, "Children of Hades could do awful things if they really wanted to, lucky for us Renjun's a good person beneath that tough facade of his. Children of Hades can control subjects of the underworld, control gems, they have limited control over the cold, they can raise the dead, and..." Mark paused and Jeno could literally see the shivers going up Mark's spine, "manipulate bones."

   Jeno laughed at the disgusted noises Mark was making, "Well, those abilities aren't too bad?"

   "The fact that they can raise the dead is pretty scary, they could start a whole zombie apocalypse if they really wanted to." Mark spoke with a pause, "Anyway, this is your cabin, get settled in, be nice to your siblings, I'll see you later Jeno." and with that Mark ruffled Jeno's hair with a smile and left.

   Jeno walked up the steps to his cabin and opened the door. He was met with a large living room. He looked around as he took in the details until a person peaked out of one of the rooms. He was tall, easily six foot or taller, with short black hair and a wide smile. Out of another room came an average height girl with light brown hair.

   The boy's smile widened as he went to greet Jeno, "You're Jeno, right?" to which Jeno nodded his head, "I'm Lucas and this is Chaeyeon, welcome to the Nike cabin."

***

    Jaemin was sitting on the steps to his cabin with Jisun, simply talking to his older sister about whatever came to mind. He got distracted as he watched Mark walk into the cabin area with the new camper, giving him a tour and telling him about each cabin. He didn't know why his heart was racing, the boy had such a handsome face, and an even better body. _This couldn't be what a crush is like, right?_ Jaemin was supposed to be the one doing the match making, not falling in love himself.

   "Hello? Earth to Jaemin!" Jisun was waving her hand in front of Jaemin's face trying to get his attention. Once he snapped out of it she turned around to see what he was looking at, "Please tell me it's not Mark you're making lovey dovey faces at right now." Jisun said, faking disgust.

   "What? Of course not. We all know he has a thing for Donghyuck." Jaemin answered with crossed arms and a huff. 

   "Oh, so it's the new boy then?" Jisun asked with a smirk, Jaemin felt heat rise to his cheeks as suddenly his manicured hands were super interesting.

   "Maybe..." Jaemin muttered shyly, twiddling his thumbs.

   "Oh my gods you two would look so cute together!" Jisun exclaimed with her hands cupped together and an excited twinkle in her eyes.

   "You really think so?" Jaemin asked, feeling hopeful.

   "Of course! You two would be such a power couple, one of Nike's sons with Aphrodite's strongest child? It would be amazing, not only are both of you like... super attractive, but that's a good combination for quests and stuff too!" Jisun was getting more and more excited by the second. She loved utilizing her matchmaking ability more than most of her siblings. (Why she hadn't set up Mark and Donghyuck yet, Jaemin didn't know.)

   "I am not Aphrodite's strongest kid at all." Jaemin spoke quietly, feeling bashful all of a sudden.

   "You're kidding me, right?" Jisun asked, face dropping to an unimpressed, serious expression, "You can't even leave camp without being chased across the continent by monsters since you're so naturally good at everything. You have perfect control of your charmspeaking, you can tame and ride any pegasus you want, and you're actually interested in  _fighting_ and doing good things which is something a majority of Aphrodite kids are either too scared or too lazy to do. Not to mention, you have an ability that no one else has ever had."

   Jaemin kept his head down, trying to keep his insecurities from jumping out. Luckily he was saved from any further lecturing when their oldest sister, Joy, came onto the porch. "It's time for dinner, come on line up."

   Jaemin stood and Jisun followed, both of them going into the house to get in line. Their cabin was usually pretty full, their mom being the goddess of love and all, but for whatever reason this particular year the amount of people in their cabin slimmed down considerably. It was only Jaemin, Jisun, Joy, and their youngest sister, Nako. Jaemin could only assume it was because of Aphrodite's ongoing love affair with Ares, or the fact that Aphrodite kids are typically so safe outside of camp that they only show up for one of two years.

   Joy led the three of them to the mess hall, they lined up in order of age, Joy in front, Jisun behind her, then Jaemin and Nako behind him. Technically Jaemin should have been the cabin counselor since he had been at the camp the longest but handed that responsibility to Joy since he knew she'd do a better job. The whole walk to me the mess hall Jaemin was lost in thought. While walking, while eating, and even when they were giving offerings to honor their godly parents, Jaemin couldn't stop thinking about the new boy.

   Jeno wasn't in any better state, he could see the boy from across the room and couldn't help but to stare, his staring stopped when he realized Lucas was trying to talk to him. "What are you staring at?" Lucas asked, looking around the mess hall frantically to see if there was anything interesting going on at the other cabins' tables.

   "Nothing, sorry I was just spacing out." Jeno replied, rubbing at the back of his neck.

   "It's alright. Anyway, you here just in time for our best yearly activity!" Lucas exclaimed, practically bouncing in his seat as his eyes sparkled.

   Chaeyeon heaved a sigh as she watched her brother act like an eight year old on the way to Disney Land. "Tomorrow is capture the flag, which is everyone's favorite camp activity. It's pretty much just normal capture the flag but with shields and swords and all of that fun stuff. The teams are decided over the course of the summer, get on a cabin's good side and they'll agree to be on your team.

   "Speaking of which, what are the teams this year?" Lucas asked, there was still a fire in his eyes but at least he wasn't bouncing in place anymore.

   "Hm, we're the red team, I'm pretty sure our team is Ares, Demeter, Hebe, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hypnos, and Tyche's cabins." Chaeyeon answered deep in thought, probably making sure she didn't miss anyone.

   "And the blue team?"

   "It should be Aphrodite, Hermes, Nemesis, Athena, Dionysus, Iris, Hades, and Hecate's cabins." Chaeyeon answered, hesitating on some of the cabin names.

   "Ugh, going against the Aphrodite kids is going to suck. Jaemin normally just charmspeaks half of our team and renders them unable to fight and suddenly we have half the amount of people." Lucas huffed.

   "Don't forget the Athena kids, they've probably been planning a strategy for months." Chaeyeon thought out loud, that thoughtful look never leaving her face.

   "Renjun will probably raise a few dead people to scare off some of our teammates."

   "But hey, we have the Hypnos kids! They can probably knock out a few kids before they pass out themselves." Lucas spoke optimistically, when in reality, that wasn't a very big advantage.

   Chaeyeon simply sighed, thinking about how useless most of the kids on their team would be when it came to fighting. "On the bright side, Ares are the second most competitive cabin right behind us and, being children of the goddess of good fortune, the children of Tyche could help a bit by just existing."

   Jeno couldn't help but feel that maybe the odds weren't entirely on their side for this game, even with Tyche's children on their team. It was hard for Jeno to remember what each god was the god  _of_. He was beginning to think that maybe picking up a book on Greek "mythology" wouldn't hurt. Of course he knew what the twelve Olympians were all the gods of but the smaller gods were a struggle for him.

   After dinner was free time. Most of the campers went to the training arena to practice for capture the flag the next day, Jeno just went back to his cabin and settled into his room. The cabin was big and spacious  with its own bathrooms (unlike the original twelve cabins, the campers in those cabins had to use the bath house). The second he finished unpacking he got in bed and passed out, exhausted after a long day. Jeno fell asleep to thoughts about his new life, what was to come, how different everything was, and most of all, thoughts about one pretty boy with brown hair.

***

   Jaemin was sitting on his bunk in the Aphrodite cabin reading books on magic and how to use it. He couldn't focus, though, he kept ending up spacing out, staring at the pink walls of the cabin, too lost in thought to focus on improving his magic.

   "You alright over there Nana?" his younger sister, Nako asked from where she was reading a fashion magazine in her own bunk. There's normally a curtain separating the boys' bunks but Jaemin and his sisters decided to take it down that summer since they feel comfortable enough with each other to not care.

   "Yeah I'm fi-"

   "Nana can't stop thinking about the handsome new boy," Jisun teased, drawing a giggle out of Nako.

   "Shut up..." Jaemin whined, covering his face with his book to cover his embarrassment.

   "Did you see that he's in the Nike cabin? Looks like you can't charmspeak him into being your boyfriend." Jisun joked.

   "Not all of us are hopeless enough to rely on magic to find love, cough cough you and that Iris girl about three years ago." Jaemin replied, a smug look on his face as he saw that Jisun was now the one with red cheeks. The best part about that memory to Jaemin is that Jisun doesn't even know how to charmspeak so she just looked crazy.

   "Ugh, whatever!" Jisun huffed, cheeks still painted red as she rushed to change the subject. "So, are you ready for capture the flag tomorrow?"

   "Of course, are you planning on actually participating or are you gonna be on the side cheerleading like Nako and Joy normally do?" Jaemin asked, setting his magic books in a neat stack on the floor next to his bed.

   "I'm not sure, we'll see how I feel tomorrow." Jisun answered, "Anyway, we should get to bed, get some extra rest so we're not all sleepy tomorrow." At that, Nako set her magazine on her bedside table and Joy muttered something in Ancient Greek to make the lights turn off.

   Jaemin laid down and tried to fall asleep. He couldn't though, his mind was racing thinking of all of the things that could happen during capture the flag. Most of the cabins on the red team were pretty much useless, but it was the Ares kids making him uneasy. They hated the Aphrodite kids because they didn't like the fact that Aphrodite had been "dating" Ares for a while, always claiming that relationships are a waste of time, especially for the god of war. For whatever reason that made the Ares kids hate the Aphrodite kids, as if it was their fault. They always used capture the flag as an excuse to target Jaemin since they knew his charmspeak didn't work on them which made him defenseless. Jaemin tried to push the thoughts of what they would pull this year into the back of his mind as he drifted off to sleep, cuddling a stuffed frog that his father had given him as a toddler.

***

    It was morning free time and capture the flag started in an hour at noon. Jeno had spent his morning in the armory getting fitted for a weapon. He had chosen a short sword since he had to be able to move easily as the main ability he was born with was being being faster than the average demi-god. For  the same reason he passed on being fitted for armor, he felt there was no point in armor if he wanted to be at his full potential in terms of his mobility.

   Jeno walked out of the armory and past the arena and cabins. He intended on going to the climbing wall to pass time but he saw Jaemin sitting by himself at the canoe lake on the dock. He was sitting with his feet dangling in the water while reading a book. Jeno had an internal struggle for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not to approach him. A sudden surge of confidence came over him and he walked over to where Jaemin was sitting on the dock. He took his shoes off and sat next to him, feeling a shiver go up his spine when his feet made contact with the cold lake water.

   Jaemin felt his face turn bright red as he looked up at the boy sitting down next to him. He was confused but flustered as he he watched him sink his feet into the cold water. "H-hello?" Jaemin greeted, a questioning tone in his voice.

   "Hey, you're Jaemin right? I'm Jeno, I'm new here." Jeno spoke with a bright smile on his face. Jaemin felt his heart speed up at the way Jeno's eyes turned into crescent moons when he smiled.

   "Yeah... you're in the Nike cabin, right?" Jaemin asked, he didn't know what was wrong with him, he had never been so shy around around someone in his life.

   "Sure am," Jeno answered, the smile on his face showing that he was proud to be in the cabin that he was in. "What book are you reading?" Jeno asked, wanting to know everything about the other boy.

   "Ah, it's a book on magic," Jaemin answered, suddenly bright, feeling enthusiastic to talk about something he enjoyed, "I do charmspeaking and other forms of love magic. I'm doing some extra studying before capture the flag starts, I haven't been practicing much."

   "I heard, Mark told me a lot about you while giving me the tour." Jeno commented, staring fondly at the Aphrodite boy.

   "He- he told you a lot about me?" Jaemin asked, suddenly feeling shy again, wanting to crawl into a hole and hide so Jeno couldn't see his flushed cheeks.

   "Yep, told me about how great you are at pretty much everything, you're really amazing Jaemin." Jeno sighed, leaning back on his hands, still shocked at the fact that he was managing to stay calm while talking to the prettiest boy he had ever seen.

   "No I'm not..." Jaemin muttered, barely above a whisper, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

   "Well if what Mark told me was true, you're incredible." Jeno argued, flashing a reassuring smile at him, "Anyway, how long have you been here at camp?"

   "I've been here for about twelve years," Jaemin answered, not phased by Jeno's shocked expression. He pulled a beaded necklace out from under his shirt, explaining that every camper got a bead at the end of each summer they're at the camp. "I've been here since since I was five. my dad started doing drugs when I was four and died of an overdose a year later. My mother ordered Chiron to to send a satyr to bring me to camp. So that's what happened, I've lived here since and I've never left, Chiron pretty much raised me." Jaemin explained, deep in thought as he talked about his past.

   "Doesn't it ever get boring?" Jeno asked, shocked that Jaemin had such an upsetting backstory.

   "Hm, sometimes it does, it's okay though, I just kinda have to hope I'll get a quest some day." Jaemin spoke, turning to smile at Jeno at the end of his sentence.

   Jeno felt his heart speed up, Jaemin's smile was beautiful and that was even more prominent when it was directed at him. Jeno couldn't help but think that Jaemin could probably get the whole camp wrapped around his finger without even using charmspeak once. Jeno simply nodded his head, a comfortable silence falling around the two as they stared off, deep in thought. Jeno looked over at what Jaemin was wearing, shocked to see mostly designer clothes. He was wearing a pair of high waisted denim shorts with the signature Gucci bees embroidered all over them and a matching Gucci belt tight around his waist. Next to him on the dock were a pair of white socks and sparkly orange jelly sandals. The only thing he was wearing that didn't look expensive was his bright orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt which he had tucked into the waistband of his shorts. "How do you afford all of that?"

   "All of what?" Jaemin asked, tilting his head to the side cutely.

   "All of those designer clothes, how do you even get them?" Jeno asked, Mark definitely wasn't kidding about the Aphrodite kids having amazing fashion sense.

   "Oh, my dad was a CEO, I got all of his money when he died since he had no one else to give it to." Jaemin said, giggling at Jeno's shocked expression, "My mother may sleep around a lot but she's picky about it."

   Before their conversation could continue, a loud voice on the speakers interrupted them, "Campers, there's fifteen minutes until capture the flag! Grab your armor and weapons at the armory and meet at the entrance to the woods!"

   "Guess we should get going then." Jaemin sighed, pulling his feet out of the water and standing up, Jeno followed. Jaemin grabbed a towel that was lying next to his shoes and used it to dry off his legs and feet before handing it to Jeno so he could do the same. They both put their shoes and socks back on and walked to the armory together in a comfortable silence.

   As they walked through the cabins and past the arena Jeno was looking around, still not used to the camp's layout nor how beautiful the ancient Greek style buildings were. He saw Mark walking through the cabins as well, probably heading to the same place. When Mark looked over and saw Jeno and Jaemin walking together he made eye contact with him and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at him. Jeno simply glared at the satyr, cheeks turning bright red, Mark just laughed at the silent exchange before going about his own business and leaving the two alone.

   When they reached the armory they went their separate ways, Jaemin to his cabin mates and Jeno to his own. Jeno looked around the armory at what each camper was using as a weapon. He looked to Jaemin first, seeing that he held five small bronze daggers, Jeno imagined he had scarily accurate aim with those things after twelve years of training and shuddered at the thought. To his left, Lucas was holding a spear and Chaeyeon was holding a bow with a quiver of arrows slung onto her back. As he scanned the room he saw Renjun holding a scythe, expected of the son of Hades. He recognized Donghyuck, son of Demeter, holding a small ukulele; Jeno could only hope he used it for musical charms rather than literally beating people up with it.

   They all made their way over to the woods and when they got there Jeno's team was giving red strips of cloth that they could use as headbands or to wrap around an arm or a thigh, the enemy team was given the same thing in blue. Jeno was nervous to say the least. He didn't really know what was going on or how the game was played, he had never even used his weapon before. His team was coming up with a plan but he barely understood anything Lucas and the Ares kids were talking about. They put him on patrol duty to spare him the trouble of having to fight someone on his first full day at camp.

   Each team moved to where their flag was located before the game started. The game was only held in the northern part of the woods, the creek running through the middle being the boundary. When the game began most of the campers run towards the center of the north woods, trying to get as close to the enemy team as possible to initiate combat. Jeno, on the other hand, was simply patrolling along the creek, keeping guard of the very edge of the boundary to look out for people who were trying to flank around all of the main action to get to the flag. It was pretty much dead all up and down the creek, Jeno stayed on his team's side of the creek but there was no one around since the game had just started.

   Jeno was simply walking up and down the creek, stopping about halfway up the creek before going back the other way to stay on his own side. As he started getting closer to the halfway point of the creek after going back up and down for a third time he saw three people on his team and one person on the blue team up ahead. As he got closer he realized it was Jaemin with three of the kids from the Ares cabin standing in a half-circle in front of him. The Ares kids were spitting insults at Jaemin and as Jeno got closer he could tell Jaemin was trying his hardest to look stoic, even though he was probably going through a million emotions at once.

   "Hey new kid! You wanna join?" One of the Ares kids greeted with a smug grin on his face, looking as if him and his brothers had just won the lottery. He approached and stayed silent, wanting to hear what they were saying to Jaemin.

   "His useless slut of a mother is distracting our father from doing his job. Look, he can't even use his only useful ability on us, how pathetic." Another one scoffed, they started throwing insults at the pretty boy again, as if they had forgotten Jeno was even there. Jaemin made eye contact with him, silently begging for help. Jeno snapped when he watched one of the Ares kids pull out three medium sized daggers, just slightly larger than the ones Jaemin has.

   He threw two of the daggers at Jaemin and they came a little too close to him for Jeno's comfort. One flew past his face, leaving a small scratch where it grazed his cheek. The other flew past his arm, leaving a slightly larger cut. Jaemin yelped in pain and fell to a crouched position on the ground, trying to make himself look as small as possible.

   Jeno immediately jumped in front of Jaemin, Jeno didn't know how to fight yet but he did know that Jaemin was defenseless and needed any help he could get. "Leave him the fuck alone." Jeno warned, voice cold and his sword now out of its sheath  as he stood face to face with three children of the god of war. He should have been scared, terrified even, he didn't know what he was doing at all. He couldn't feel any of those things, though when he knew he had to protect someone he cared about, even if he struggled to fight back he would take it if it meant Jaemin would be alright. Jeno couldn't believe he already felt this strongly about Jaemin, strong enough to put his own health on the line to protect him. He didn't have time to question his feelings, though, as he held eye contact with the three Ares kids.

   "You're defending  _him_ _?_ He's pathetic why would you side with him?" One of them sneered, Jeno took note of their weapons, one only had one dagger left now, the other two both had spears, the most common weapon for a child of Ares to choose. Jeno was relieved to see that all three of them had weapons that they wouldn't be able to get to Jaemin with unless one of them moved.  _'If I can just hold them off until one of the teams wins we'll be fine'_ Jeno thought to himself, taking his time to assess the situation.

   Just as that thought went through his mind he heard cheering coming from the woods, he watched as the girl he saw talking to Jaemin the day before ran by with a red flag in her hands, other members of their team running excitedly behind her. Some mopey looking members of his own team were seen walking along also.

   One of the Ares kids huffed in annoyance, they lowered their weapons, glaring daggers at Jeno. "You got lucky this time Na, the new kid won't always be there to protect you." One of them sneered, still holding eye contact with Jeno as he spoke before walking away angrily with his two brothers following him.

   Jeno sighed in relief and relaxed his stance, putting his sword back into its sheath. He felt calm until he remembered that Jaemin was still injured behind him and he immediately turned around to look at him. He was still kneeling on the ground, the cut  on his arm was a lot deeper than he had initially thought and he grew more and more worried. He knelt down to talk to Jaemin.

   "Thank you for helping me out Jeno, you really didn't have to." Jaemin spoke shyly, looking down at the ground.

   "Of course I did, that's what friends are for, right?" Jaemin turned red at that, simply nodding his head, thankful that Jeno had just so happened to be there at the right time. "Anyway, we need to get you to the infirmary, do you think you can stand?"

   Jaemin shook his head, "I feel dizzy," Jeno wasn't too shocked by that answer with how deep the cut was and the blood dripping down his arm. Jeno was panicking a bit internally but he tried his best to hide it to keep Jaemin calm. Jaemin saw one of his sisters walking by and called her over, she seemed shocked to see the condition her younger brother was in.

   "Jaemin what happened?" she asked, her voice laced with concern. If Jeno remembered what Mark had told him correctly her name was Jisun.

   "The Ares kids again, same as every year." Jaemin muttered, Jeno was more than surprised to hear that this was a reoccurring thing.

   "My gods, some day I'm going to teach them a lesson," Jisun said angrily as she moved Jaemin's hand away from his wound, replacing it with her own with a grimace at the feeling of blood on her hand.

   Jeno watched as Jisun held her hand there for about a minute. Jeno was amazed when she moved her hand to reveal Jaemin's now unblemished skin. She did the same to his cheek, only having to hold her hand there for about ten seconds as it was a small cut. Jeno realized this was the healing he had been told about. Jisun was Jaemin's sister, therefore a loved one, which meant her touch could heal Jaemin. Jeno couldn't help but hope that some day he could do the same for Jaemin.

   "Alright, I'll leave you two alone now," Jisun said as all three of them stood, looking at her blood covered hand in disgust.

   Jeno missed the wink she sent to Jaemin as well as the way his cheeks turned red.

***

   It had been a few weeks since the capture the flag game and Jeno had gotten used to the camp and how it works. He had been training at the arena with Lucas and his sword felt more comfortable and less heavy in his hand. He had gotten a lot closer with Jaemin, they spent pretty much all of their free time together or with their friends. Jaemin had introduced Jeno to his group of friends, all of which Jeno had recognized from the tour Mark had given him.

   The group they hung out with consisted of Mark, Donghyuck, and Renjun. Mark had definitely been right about Renjun being scarier than he looks. He had a tendency to get violent with people when he was mad, he was just really hot headed. He was a great friend regardless, though. Jaemin had explained that Renjun had also never left the camp, since he was the son of Hades; children of the big three pretty much walked around with a huge target on their backs in the mortal world. 

   Just like Jeno thought, Jaemin told him that Mark had a huge crush on Donghyuck for 5 years but was too afraid of rejection to actually say anything.

   Their small group had mini bonfires every Friday night where they would invite other campers to join them. Most of the time Jisung from the Hermes cabin and Chenle from the Hebe cabin were the only two who joined. Sometimes Jaemin's sisters (Jeno had learned that other than Jisun, the other two were named Nako and Joy) and Jeno's brother and sister would join, but that was fairly rare. The bonfires were fairly relaxed, sometimes they would make s'mores, most of the time Donghyuck would play his Ukulele and sing with Renjun.

   Jeno and Jaemin walked together to the spot where they had their bonfire every week. Jeno looked over at what Jaemin was wearing; a cropped pink hoodie, a pair of black ripped skinny jeans with his usual Gucci belt, and a pair of sparkly pink jelly sandals with white socks. Jeno had seen Jaemin's shoe collection the first time he entered the Aphrodite cabin and it pretty much entirely consisted of jelly sandals of every color of the rainbow, platform shoes, at least ten pairs of Birkenstocks, several pairs of Fila tennis shoes, and some pricey looking heels along with tens of other pairs of designer shoes. Jeno didn't know why, but it seemed like everything Jaemin wore, no matter how simple, looked gorgeous on him, somehow even the awful camp shirt looked like it was worth thousands of dollars when he wore it. Jeno didn't know if this was because of Jaemin's natural sense of fashion or his own infatuation with Jaemin.

   Jeno noticed that Jaemin was holding a folded up pink blanket for when he got cold and it made Jeno realize that he was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans himself. "Shit, I should have brought a blanket," Jeno muttered, not excited for how cold he would be later.

   "Oh, we can share mine! It's a big blanket it'll probably fit around both of us." Jaemin offered with that sweet smile that always made Jeno melt.

   "O-okay, thanks Nana." Jeno replied, cheeks red, thankful that it was dark enough that Jaemin couldn't see the color of his cheeks.

   They were both shocked when they got to the fire pit only to be met with Renjun excitedly pointing at Mark and Donghyuck while bouncing up and down on his toes. "He did it! He did it! He did it!"

   "Did what?" Jaemin asked as he sat down on a log with Jeno across from Mark and Donghyuck.

   "Mark finally confessed to Hyuck!" Renjun was basically yelling at this point. Mark and Donghyuck were sitting on their log, blush bright on their cheeks as their eyes remained wide out of embarrassment.

   "Really? I'm happy for you two. Took long enough." Jaemin said with a giggle, his eyes looked a million times brighter and Jeno assumed it was in Jaemin's nature as son of the love goddess to become excited or happy at the sight of two people fall in love. Now that Jeno was thinking about it he wondered if it made Jaemin upset to see Mark so hopelessly in love with Donghyuck for so long without reciprocation. Jaemin unfolded the blanket and handed one corner to Jeno so he could wrap half of it around himself. Jeno felt himself become embarrassed as he was forced to press himself against Jaemin so they could both fit in the blanket.

   Donghyuck started playing his ukulele and singing about ten minutes later. Jeno felt tense as Jaemin started drifting off to the sound of Donghyuck's voice. Jaemin ended up resting his head on Jeno's shoulder and the latter felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest at any moment. For a moment, he was worried Jaemin would be able to feel how strongly his heart was pounding.

   His worries were cut short, Donghyuck's strumming stopped, and Jaemin woke up from his nap at the sound of loud foot steps, sounding more like paws than feet, rapidly hitting the ground. The sound got louder and louder as whatever was coming their way got closer. When it was close enough for Jeno to make out what it was he was a mix of terrified and confused. He saw what looked to be a huge wolf, about two feet taller than himself. That wasn't the scary part, though. It had  _two heads_.

   Jeno immediately jumped to his feet along with his friends. The beast was making direct eye contact with Jaemin, both heads snarling as it stood in a stance that made it clear that it was ready to pounce. Someone had sent that  _thing_ after Jaemin. At that moment Jeno was glad that he had been able to modify his sword with magic into a pocket knife so it would fit in his pocket at all times. He pulled it out and flicked the switch, the celestial bronze blade coming out at full size and the body of the switchblade turning into the handle.

   Before Jeno could even think, the beast leaped by him and swiped at Jaemin, two of its claws leaving a gash in his side. Jaemin let out a cry before collapsing and clutching his injured side in pain. Renjun and Mark ran over to where Jaemin fell, doing their best to protect him from any further harm without their weapons. Donghyuck tried to stay calm as he played a relaxing tune on his ukulele in an attempt to sway the beast into a sleepy state.

   Jeno noticed the song had already taken effect on the beast as it began to sway back and forth, shaking its heads to try to keep the sleepiness away. Jeno saw that as an opportunity and used all of his training thus far to the best of his ability. He charged at the beast and impaled it with his sword at its weakest point. Jeno let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it worked as the beast turned to dust in front of him.

   He immediately dropped his sword and turned around to help Jaemin. He was now propped up against the log, clutching his wound similar to the way he did during the capture the flag game, only this time it was much more serious. He couldn't believe they were in this position again.

   "What the fuck was that?" Donghyuck yelled, all the stress finally leaving his body as he finally didn't have to focus on his ukulele anymore.

   "That was Orthrus," Renjun answered as if it should've been obvious.

   "Orthrus is a two headed beast, sibling to Hades's guard dog Cerberus, it used to guard Geryon's cattle until Hercules killed it." Mark answered in more depth, seeming to know the answer to pretty much everything. The fact that the beast was related to Cerberus explained why Renjun was so familiar with it, Renjun had told him that he went to the underworld frequently to visit his father and that he would play catch with Cerberus while he was there.

   "How did it get in? Isn't the boundary supposed to keep monsters out of the camp?" Jeno asked, still shaken up. He pulled Jaemin's, now torn, hoodie away from the wound, grimacing at just how bad it was.

   "The barrier keeps them from just running in whenever they want to, however, campers who know how to do the magic correctly can summon them into the camp to either practice fighting or pull pranks on other campers. This was a little much to be just a prank but that must have been some Ares kid's sick idea of a prank to pull on Jaemin." Renjun explained with a sigh.

   "Wait, if Hercules already killed it then how was it just here?" Jeno asked.

   "Monsters can never truly be killed, they're reborn each time they get killed. The stronger a monster the longer it takes them to reform. Mark explained, to which Jeno simply nodded his head in understanding.

    Jeno went to apply pressure to the wound to try to stop the bleeding. He was by Jaemin yelling at him, panicked, "No, no, no, Jeno don't!" there were tears in the younger boy's eyes and he assumed he was just scared of the pain of someone touching his open wound.

   Jeno didn't listen, he applied pressure on the wound. He was about to tell Mark to get Chiron, Jaemin's sisters, anyone that could help, but he felt a tingling sensation all throughout his hand and arm and he froze. He looked up to see Jaemin crying into Renjun's shoulder. He didn't want to believe what he was thinking was happening, he didn't want to get his hopes up only to be let down.

   Jeno held his hand there for a few minutes, the silence was suffocating. When he finally moved his hand the wound on his side was completely healed,  _he was right._ He looked at his hand and grimaced at the amount of blood covering it. Donghyuck came up next to him and handed him a towel to wipe the blood off with, Jeno had assumed he had gotten up to get it while Jeno was focused on Jaemin. Mark and Renjun both looked shocked, but left after telling Jeno they'd give him and Jaemin some alone time.

   Jeno looked over at Jaemin and felt his heart speed up at the sight of his flushed cheeks and his red nose and puffy eyes from crying. Somehow, even in that state Jaemin still looked beautiful.

   "Jaemin, how... doesn't that only work with loved ones?" Jeno asked. He knew the answer he just needed to hear it from Jaemin. He needed to know for sure that the feeling was mutual.

   Jaemin didn't say a word, simply nodding his head. He was scared of rejection, he was scared Jeno would get up and leave him there alone. He was scared he would lose the best friendship he ever had.

   Jeno didn't say anything either, he didn't need to because at that moment actions spoke louder than words. Jeno didn't even think before he cupped Jaemin's face in his hands and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Jeno really didn't know where all of this confidence was coming from but it paid off. He was still holding Jaemin's face gently as they pulled away, staring at each other as both their faces turned bright red.

   Jaemin had his own sudden burst of confidence as he wrapped his arms around Jeno's neck and kissed him passionately. To both of them it felt like they had been waiting years for that moment even though they had only known each other for about two weeks. When they pulled away they were both panting while staring into each other's eyes. Jeno couldn't help but think that Jaemin's swollen lips and red cheeks were adorable. He was sure he didn't look much better himself.

   Jaemin giggled into his hands as he covered the bottom half of his face shyly. Jeno stood from where they were sitting and pulled Jaemin up with him by the hand.

   "What does this mean?" Jaemin asked quietly, twiddling his thumbs as if he was nervous to hear what Jeno would say.

   "What does what mean?" Jeno asked, confused as to what Jaemin meant.

   "You know, everything that just happened, you finding out I love you and stuff..." Jaemin answered, voice getting quieter as he got more and more embarrassed.

   Jeno laughed silently at how cute Jaemin's shyness was before answering, "Well, do you want to be my boyfriend? Because I feel the same way about you." Jeno smiled sweetly as Jaemin's eyes widened and sparkled in excitement as he nodded his head yes. Jeno let out a small laugh before holding Jaemin's hand in his own to walk over to the cabins.

   It was getting dark and curfew was right around the corner as they made their way in the direction of the Aphrodite cabin. When they stopped in front of the pink and blue cabin Jaemin immediately started pouting and whining, "I don't wanna leave you yet." Jaemin complained, batting his eyelashes cutely at the older.

   Jeno smiled brightly at the cute boy, if he were the son of any other god he probably would have fallen for Jaemin's obvious charmspeaking. He always tried it on Jaemin despite knowing it wouldn't work. "I know baby, we'll see each other first thing in the morning, okay?" Jeno promised. He wasn't sure where the pet name came from but it just felt natural and Jaemin seemed to like it, his attitude immediately brightening up.

   "Alright, I love you." Jaemin said, hoping it wasn't too early to tell him that, because it was how he truly felt.

   "I love you too, sleep well doll." Jeno spoke before placing a kiss on Jaemin's nose and turning around to walk to his own cabin.

   Jaemin's face was bright red when he walked into his cabin and his sisters definitely didn't help. He was greeted by all three of them ambushing him, begging for him to "spill the tea". Nako even told him they watched everything from their window which only made Jaemin even more embarrassed.

   Both Jeno and Jaemin already knew that this summer was going to be amazing.

 


	2. Part Two

   It was mid August and Jeno and Jaemin had been together for a little over a month. Their days were filled with cuddling under trees and sitting together at Canoe Lake. Their nights filled with them trying to sneak into each other's cabins to spend the night with one another. Sometimes successful, sometimes not. Chiron tended to be more protective over Jaemin than the other campers since he practically raised him, so getting caught was never fun.

   The weather outside was warm as Jeno and Jaemin walked together to the training arena. Jaemin was wearing what he usually wore, denim high-waisted shorts, his Gucci belt, jelly sandals with socks, and whatever shirt he was in the mood for that day. On that particular day, Jaemin had decided to wear a pink long sleeve crop-top which showed off the skin of his waist whenever he lifted his arms. Jeno would never get used to the way his cheeks would heat up at the sight of Jaemin, arms high above his head, as his small waist and sun-kissed skin were exposed from under the material of his shirt.

   When they got to the arena Jaemin pulled his five daggers out of a pouch that was attached to his belt. The first time Jeno had seen the small daggers was just before the capture the flag game and he hadn't gotten the chance to take a close look at them.

   A few weeks into their relationship, though, Jaemin had shown him his whole collection of daggers, knives, and switchblades, most of which were pink. There were a couple disguised as combs, others had a rainbow shift effect on the blades. One that stood out to Jeno was a pink switchblade with cutesy stickers covering the handle. And finally, there were the five daggers that Jaemin actually used in combat, the only ones in his collection made of celestial bronze. Each one looked the same, in a thin pointed shape that looked to sharp to touch. Each dagger had small decorative roses covering the handle, two pink and two white on each. There were also small ribbons on each of the daggers' handles that seemed to glimmer in the light with a pink glow around them; Jaemin had explained that the ribbons were a gift from his mother, infused with love magic. The daggers themselves were also a gift but rather than having love magic, they would always return to Jaemin's pouch after landing at the end of a throw so he would never have to run over to retrieve them.

   Jeno followed Jaemin to the target practice area of the arena. After he had gotten used to using his sword he took up archery and asked Chiron to help him learn. He figured it would be a good idea to be able to fight both up close and from afar. Once they were both stood in front of their own targets they got to work. They were always in their own little worlds while practicing but they found each other's company comforting.

   As Jeno pulled out his bow and began practicing he didn't even notice that Jaemin wasn't doing anything beside him. Jaemin was staring at Jeno in awe, the older was wearing a muscle shirt that showed off his arms and Jaemin couldn't help but turn bright red at the way his boyfriend's arm and back muscles flexed each time he pulled back the bow's string. Jaemin tried his hardest to divert his attention away from his own indecent thoughts. "Ya know, I've been here at camp for twelve years and I've never used a bow before."

   "Really? Why not?" Jeno asked, pausing what he was doing to look at Jaemin to his right.

   "I don't know, guess I've just never really thought about it," Jaemin answered, glad he was able to clear his mind a bit.

   "You could try right now if you want," Jeno offered, holding his bow out to Jaemin with a gentle smile.

   Jaemin was a bit shocked as he battled with himself over whether or not he would take up the offer. "S-sure, don't tease me though." Jaemin said quietly, cheeks hot once again as he grabbed the bow.

   "I would never, babe." Jeno said with a laugh, pressing a kiss to the top of Jaemin's head. Jaemin huffed as he moved to stand in front of the target. The smile never left Jeno's face as he watched Jaemin stare at the bow in confusion, not quite sure how to stand. "Do you need help?" Jeno asked with a small laugh while pulling an arrow out of his quiver and handing it to the younger. Jaemin simply nodded his head, a pout on his lips.

   Jeno moved closer to Jaemin and helped him position the arrow onto the bow before helping him with his stance. Jeno moved behind Jaemin and moved his arms into the correct position, at the sight of Jaemin's embarrassed expression Jeno pressed a kiss to his cheek with a smile.

   When Jeno backed off and let Jaemin shoot the arrow it landed just barely at the edge of the target, Jeno couldn't help but find Jaemin's excessive pouting adorable. "I mean, that's not bad for your first try, most beginners can't even hit the target."

   Jaemin huffed before handing the bow back to Jeno, "I think ill stick to these," Jaemin commented, pulling out one of his daggers and chucking it at the target. It landed perfectly in the center and Jaemin's pout turned into a bright smile. Even after over a month Jeno was still amazed (and a bit terrified) at Jaemin's deadly accuracy.

   They shared a kiss before turning back to their own targets to practice with their own weapons.

***

   It was about a week later and the whole camp was holding a movie night at the amphitheater. Earlier that week a new camper had arrived, Hwang Yeji. She was only in the Hermes cabin for a day before her mother, Nike claimed her and she was quickly moved into the Nike cabin. Jeno was happy to have a new sibling, he was an only child back home, so having siblings at camp made him feel just a bit less lonely.

   Jeno was standing outside of the Aphrodite cabin, waiting for Jaemin to get ready. The sun was setting as night drew closer and Jeno couldn't help but to think about how much happier he had become since he arrived at Camp Half-Blood. His home life was fine, he had a good relationship with his dad and he had some close friends, but his friends couldn't understand most of his struggles, that even he didn't quite understand at the time. Being in a place where everyone had those sames struggles made him feel like he finally belonged somewhere. Being a half-blood, he had terrible ADHD and Dyslexia, or at least, what he thought was ADHD and Dyslexia. He had been diagnosed with ADHD at a young age, but upon several conversations with Lucas, Jaemin, and other campers, he learned that it  _wasn't_  ADHD, but rather his natural instincts and desire to fight. The Dyslexia was caused by the hard wiring of every half-blood's brains; they were made to read Ancient Greek, so reading English got confusing as the letters would get jumbled up and blurry, but he was able to read Ancient Greek without ever even learning the language. Both of these problems disappeared while he was at camp thanks to the signs written in Ancient Greek and all of the activities to keep campers busy.

   His train of thought was interrupted when Jaemin appeared next to him, a bright smile adorning his features. Looking at Jaemin's outfit, he was wearing a shirt that Jeno had never seen before. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was his old football jersey. It was red and black with a dragon, his school's mascot, printed on where a breast pocket be. Jeno couldn't see it since he was facing him, but he knew his name was printed on the back. The jersey was almost long enough to be a dress on him, coming down to just above mid thigh, barely covering the black shorts he was wearing underneath. Along with that he was wearing white crew socks with red and black Fila tennis shoes.

   "How... how did you get that?" Jeno asked, cheeks hot as his possessive side kicked in knowing that Jaemin was showing off that he was his and his only.

   "I took it when i slept in your cabin the other night." Jaemin answered with a giggle, wrapping his arms around Jeno's neck, "I look cute though, right?" Jaemin asked with a pout.

   "You always look cute, baby." Jeno answered softly, pressing a kiss to the tip of Jaemin's nose as he grabbed his hips. "Actually, please wear my clothes more often because you look adorable." Jeno muttered, smiling as Jaemin laughed.

   "Come on, lets go to the amphitheater you cheese ball." Jaemin teased, grabbing Jeno's hand to pull him along.

 

   When Jeno and Jaemin got to the amphitheater they found their friends in one of the middle rows of seats. The amphitheater was big, in a half circle shape with a stage at the base with seats surrounding it going up and out. To Jeno, it looked like a mini version of the colosseum in Rome. The two of them sat at the two seats at the end of the row all of their friends were sitting in. Next to Jaemin was Yeji, then going down the line there was Lucas, Chaeyeon, Jisun, Joy, Nako, Mark, Donghyuck, Jisung, Chenle, and Renjun sitting at the very end.

   "Do you have any idea what they're playing tonight?" Jaemin asked as he wrapped his pink blanket around himself.

   "Hm, I think it's some horror movie," Jeno answered, smiling as Jaemin immediately tensed up. "Do you need me to hold your hand, babe?" Jeno asked with a teasing laugh.

   "No! I can get through it just fine on my own." Jaemin huffed, crossing his arms and not letting Jeno touch him.

   It was about an hour into the movie and Jeno could see that Jaemin was visibly shaken. He was curled up with his feet up on the seat, his chin resting on his knees, and using his blanket to cover the lower half of his face. It took everything in Jeno's power not to comfort the younger but he figured he would let Jaemin come to him first since he wanted act all tough all of a sudden.

   It was only another few minutes before another jumpscare finally got to Jaemin, making him jolt and immediately bury his face into Jeno's shoulder. Jeno gave in and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, running a hand through his hair to comfort him. "I told you you wouldn't make it through this movie," Jeno muttered with a laugh, placing a kiss on top of his head.

   "Shut up," Jaemin whined into the crook of Jeno's neck. Jeno couldn't see his face but he knew he was pouting. He thought it was interesting that horror movies about mortals scared Jaemin so much even though he was about ten times stronger than any mortal.

   "Do you wanna go back to the cabins, babe?" Jeno asked, running a hand up and down his back. Jaemin didn't say anything, he just nodded his head in response. Jeno stood and pulled Jaemin up with him. He told Yeji that they were leaving and that he would probably stay in the Aphrodite cabin that night before leaving. Jeno noticed how sleepy Jaemin was and crouched down, allowing Jaemin to climb on his back so he could carry him to the cabins.

   Jeno set Jaemin down on his bed and took his hoodie off while Jaemin untied his shoes sleepily. "You haven't been calling me in the middle of the night as much, have your nightmares been getting better?" Jeno asked.

   Jaemin shook his head, grabbing his frog stuffed animal and holding it close as he sat with his legs crossed on the bed. Jeno recalled Jaemin telling him about how his dad had won him the frog at a fair. It had been one of the only toys he was able to bring with him to camp which was why it was so important to him.

   "Why haven't you been calling, then?" Jeno asked, sitting down on the bed and running a hand through the younger's soft hair.

   "I don't wanna bother you. It's unfair for you to lose sleep because of my problems." Jaemin answered, voice barely above a whisper. 

   "Baby, I don't mind at all, I'd rather lose sleep and know that you're okay than be unable to help when you're hurting." Jeno stated, worry laced in his words. It broke his heart knowing that Jaemin was going through all of that for the past couple weeks with no support. "It's okay if you don't want to say anything, it's probably touchy, but do you  wanna tell me what your nightmares are about?" Jeno asked, feeling Jaemin tense as his hand stayed in his hair.

   "They're always about my dad..." Jaemin trailed off, choked up as he fiddled with his stuffed frog, "The day he overdosed I walked in and saw him dead and I just... I can't get that image out of my head no matter how hard I try. Seeing that at five years old was just so horrific, especially since I loved my dad and looked up to him so much. He never wanted me to see him high and he would always tell me to stay in my room or have his assistant take me to the park when he wanted to get high. Being so young, I never understood what he was doing so I would just listen and stay in my room. Seeing him dead that day was... traumatizing. It was like everything started to make sense." Jaemin explained, hands trembling as tears welled in his eyes.

   "I'm so sorry, baby." Jeno muttered, moving his hands down to his cheeks to wipe away a couple stray tears. It hurt Jeno so much seeing the younger talk about something that hurt him so deeply. Even more so than the two times Jeno had seen him physically injured. Jeno didn't know how Jaemin was able to keep all the pain he went through bottled up while he put on a pretty smile and a sweet personality all day.

   "People here always assume my dad was abusive because of all of the drugs he did and I just let them believe that. He really wasn't, though." Jaemin said, irritation in his words. "He was so kind, overprotective even, but he would never have even thought to lay a hand on me in an attempt to injure me. He was just stressed and wpund up from being the CEO of such a big company, and now that I know that he knew who my mother is that probably didn't help. He turned to drugs to relieve that stress. When he was sober he was the best dad anyone could ever ask for. He would spend all of his free time making sure I was happy. He was super over protective but I understand now that it was because he knew monsters would be coming after me if he wasn't careful."

   "He sounds like he was a great father." Jeno said, holding Jaemin's hands in his own as he spoke, running his thumbs soothingly over the other's knuckles.

   "He was... I just wish I had gotten to know him growing up to get a better idea of what kind of person he was, but it's okay. My mother always told me he was a great man, he was fair to his employees and only wanted everyone around him to be happy. I can only hope he's doing alright down there in the underworld... he was originally placed in the Asphodel Meadows but when I met Renjun I asked him to move him to Elysium." Jaemin replied with a smile. It was relieving to finally talk to someone about his father. It felt like a ten pound weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

   "Renjun... can do that?" Jeno asked, wide-eyed. He always forgot just how powerful children of the big three could  be.

   "Of course he can," Jaemin said with a laugh, "Did you forget that he has some control over the subjects of the underworld?"

   "I think I chose to forget about that sometimes." Jeno muttered, Jaemin letting out a giggle.

   "We should get some sleep," Jaemin said with a smile, grabbing Jeno's hand and getting under the covers. His eyes were still puffy from crying but he seemed to glow more than before. There were voices outside which told Jeno that the movie had ended and people were walking back to their cabins. Jaemin's sisters walked in as he snuggled up to Jeno's chest and fell asleep almost instantly. The girls didn't pay them any mind, they were used to seeing them all snuggled up sharing a bed. He heard Joy turn the lights off before the three of them went to bed as well.

   Jeno couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. He had a bad feeling but he didn't know why, he felt his gut churn the second the Aphrodite girls walked in but he didnt know  _why_. He could only hope that he had eaten something that upset his stomach but something in him was telling him that something bad was going to happen.

   Jeno gave up on trying to force himself to sleep and decided to get up and get some water. He placed a gently kiss on the top of Jaemin's head before carefully moving his arm off of his torso and lying his head on the pillow. The younger whined and grabbed his frog but thankfully didn't wake up. He walked to the small kitchen as quietly as possible, careful not to make too much noise. The kitchen wasn't  _really_  a kitchen, it was just a mini fridge on the counter, a couple cabinets, and a sink.

   When he walked in he was greeted with the sight of Jisun standing against the counter, her phone in one hand and a glass of water in the other. She was wearing what she normally slept in, pink athletic shorts and a tank top with her hair up in a high ponytail. As she stared down at her phone her expression showed nothing but confusion. "You couldn't sleep either?" Jeno asked while grabbing a glass out of the cabinet and filling it with water.

   "No, I only slept for thirty minutes before I had a... strange dream." she said, brows furrowed in confusion as she recalled the dream, "Please, don't tell Jaemin about this because I really don't want him to freak out, but our mother, Aphrodite was in my dream... bound in celestial bronze chains with what looked like fire surrounding her." Jisun said, placing her phone on the counter behind her, "I don't want to assume too much since it might have just been a crazy dream, but I can't help but be worried that my mother may be in danger. Plus, being demigods, dreams are pretty much always meant to tell us something about the future or even the present somewhere else. Not to mention, I've had an awful gut feeling ever since I walked to the amphitheater with Nako and Joy."

   "That's strange, I had a feeling like that also when you guys got back." Jeno said, wondering if it was a coincidence or something was really going on. "Anyway, lets just try not to think about it too much, maybe the food today was just iffy." Jeno said with a smile, placing his glass in the sink before turning to go back to the bunks.

   "Hey Jeno," he stopped in his tracks, now standing at the edge of the kitchen.

   "Yeah?"

   "Jaemin loves you, ya'know, like, a lot." Jisun stated, eyes filled with an emotion Jeno couldn't really read, "Did he tell you about what happened before he came to camp?"

   "Yeah, he did, he told me about it when we got back from the amphitheater." Jeno answered, not sure where the conversation was going.

   "That's good, I'm happy to see he's finally opening up to someone other than Chiron and I." She said with a relieved sigh, "I know he's strong, he's stronger than almost any other camper here right now, but he's so... fragile. I don't think he could handle anymore heartbreak or abandonment so just... please be gentle with him. When he's with you he's the happiest I've ever seen him in the six years we've known each other. He's looked so bright lately, losing you would probably completely shatter his heart. So just, please, please promise me you'll try not to hurt him." She asked as she looked up at Jeno with pleading eyes.

   "Of course I promise, I would never even think to do anything to hurt him. If I did I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive myself." Jeno answered wholeheartedly.

   "You're a good kid Jeno, you really are." Jisun complimented, giving Jeno a warm smile.

   "Jeno simply smiled back, glad they were able to have that conversation. He bid Jisun a goodnight before going back to the bunks. He got back into bed as carefully as possible in an attempt to not wake Jaemin. He wrapped his arms around the younger from behind as the latter rolled over and pressed his fave into Jeno's chest.

   "Where did you go?" Jaemin asked with a whine, happy his boyfriend was back to keep him warm.

   "I just went to get some water, just go back to sleep, baby." Jeno muttered. Jaemin didn't need to be told twice as he immediately fell asleep, Jeno following shortly after.

***

   It was around noon the next day and the campers had finished eating lunch. Jeno was walking hand in hand with Jaemin towards the woods. Jaemin didn't know where he was being dragged to, he only knew that Jeno wanted some alone time with him.

   "Where are you taking me?" Jaemin whined, confused why Jeno was taking him into the woods.

   "I'm taking you to the little pond just east of Zeus's Fist. I figured it would be a nice place to just have some time alone." Jeno answered with a smile, running his thumb over Jaemin's knuckles as they held hands.

   When they got to the pond they pulled their shoes off and sat at the edge of it like they usually would at the canoe lake. No matter how many times Jaemin had been to the pond he never failed to be amazed by its beauty. The water was vibrant blue thanks to the naiads residing there, lily pads sat on by small croaking frogs scattered throughout the pond. The surrounding grass was green and healthy, pine trees surrounded the small clearing concealing it within the woods. There were rose bushes here and there within the camp, he thrived on beauty so having such nice surroundings made him happy; the roses that symbolized his mother and the frogs which were his favorite animal made him feel right at home.

   Other campers always found it strange that the son of the goddess of beauty would adore such a slimy, gross creature, but to Jaemin, they reminded him of his father and the stuffed animal that he held so dear to his hear. And in general, they were just adorable.

   Despite all of their beautiful surroundings, Jeno's eyes were only on Jaemin. He was admiring the way Jaemin's  skin pretty much glowed when they were there, his eyes sparkling as he admired the pond. He simply sat back and watched, smiling as a small frog made its way towards them in the pond. Jaemin gently picked it up out of the water and started cooing at it, gently petting the top of its head between its two big sparkling eyes. It almost seemed to be smiling as Jaemin held it. He gently placed it back onto its lily pad before turning to smile at Jeno.

   They heard the naiads giggling from across the pond. They were probably gossiping about "the cute new couple" as they watched the two hold hands. Jeno and Jaemin didn't may any mind, simply enjoying each other's presence.

   Jeno noticed Jaemin's mood completely shift, he looked worried, as if he was contemplating something. "What's wrong baby?" Jeno asked, moving a hand up to cup Jaemin's cheek.

   "I've just... I've been thinking and summer's coming to an end pretty soon and..." Jaemin trailed off as if he was afraid of finishing his sentence. "I just wanted to know what your plans are when camp ends."

   Before Jeno could answer Jaemin cut in again, "And it's totally fine if you wanted to visit your dad or go to school or whatever! I'm just curious..." Jaemin said shyly, playing with his hands.

   Jeno had actually been thinking about that for a while, he was struggling to decide whether or not he would go home when summer ended. He wouldn't mind seeing his dad, but something, that dream Jisun had, that awful gut feeling he got the night before, so much was telling him to stay. "I'm gonna stay, don't worry doll." Jeno answered with a reassuring smile.

   "Wait, really?" Jaemin said, excited. Jeno chuckled as he immediately tried to act like he wasn't overjoyed by that answer. "I mean, I don't wanna force you to stay if-"

   Jeno cut him off, "I wanna stay, babe. I was about to go off to college anyway, I'm sure my dad will be happy with some alone time."

   "Are you sure?"

   "Positive. A little extra training wouldn't hurt either. And, you know, I get to see your pretty face 365 days of the year." Jeno assured cheekily, laughing as Jaemin blushed. "I can always send my dad an Iris message if I wanna talk to him." Jeno continued, avoiding mentioning Jisun's dream at all costs.

   "Alright then," Jaemin muttered, nuzzling his face into Jeno's hand.

   Their talk was interrupted when they heard what sounded like horse hooves hitting the ground behind them. They were met with Chiron coming up behind them, worry written on his face as he approached. "Jaemin, you need to see the oracle as soon as possible."

   Jaemin's face paled at Chiron's words. Jeno didn't know what that meant, but he knew that it must have been something important judging by the younger boy's expression. "What? Why?"

   "I'm... I can't explain until you see her, come talk to me after you do." Chiron answered before turning around and leaving, the clopping of his horse hooves quieted by the leaves and grass on the forest floor.

   "Well, I guess we'll head off then." Jaemin said, heaving a sigh. They both pulled their feet out of the water and put their shoes back on. Jeno had no idea what was going on, what the oracle was, what it meant to go see her, he just hoped it was something good. Based on the tenseness of that conversation, though, Jeno doubted it was.

   When they got out of the woods they made their way to the opposite end of the camp where the big house was. When they walked into the house Jaemin was clearly anxious. He had told Jeno to wait in the living room with Chiron, who was now in his wheelchair to hide his horse lower half. He watched as Jaemin walked upstairs and he couldn't help but feel just as tense as his boyfriend was. He couldn't stop thinking about the possible connection between the gut feeling he and Jisun both had the night before.

   "Have you been told about the oracle yet?" Chiron asked, facing Jeno who was now sitting on the couch.

   "No, I haven't." Jeno answered, finding it hard to keep eye contact with Chiron as his eyes wanted to trail over to the staircase, desperately waiting for Jaemin to come back.

   "Campers are only told to see the oracle to receive a quest to lead. Normally, the possibility of a quest is brought up and  _then_  the oracle is seen to confirm whether or not a quest is actually needed. It's extremely rare that the oracle seeks out a camper to come to her.  This could mean it's an ancient prophecy that the gods have chosen to forget about." Chiron explained, brows furrowed, deep in thought.

   "So this is really, really serious? What could have happened that Jaemin was called in all of a sudden if it's a prophecy that's been around for so long?" Jeno asked, as far as he knew there was nothing wrong.

   "Well, there is one thing. At least, it's the only thing I could see being so specific to Jaemin." Chiron said, he looked stressed, as if whatever was going on was affecting him. "No one has seen Aphrodite in a few days. At first the gods assumed she had just gone on a vacation without telling anyone , but she's never been gone this long without telling anyone. There's worry that she was kidnapped by someone or something. Ares is getting agitated, Hephaestus is worried about his wife, in general all of Olympus is in shambles right now over her disappearance. The Olympus council doesn't meet again until December on the Winter Solstice but there's worry that something may happen to Aphrodite. There's no telling what losing the goddess of love with cause, but it wouldn't be good at all."

   Jeno's eyes widened in shock, "How could a goddess get kidnapped? Wouldn't that be impossible or something?" His mind immediately went to Jisun's dream, could it have been a message rather than just a normal dream? He knew he should've told Chiron about it but he decided against it.

   "Sadly, no. If it's a monster or being that's strong enough it's possible. About ten years ago when Kronos was reforming Atlas kidnapped Artemis and tricked her into holding up the sky for him. Luckily enough Percy was able to hold the sky up and survive while Artemis fought Atlas and they were able to get him back under the sky but that's besides the point. There are more instances other than that one, Hera being kidnapped by Khione, the goddess of snow, is another recent example from about seven years ago." Chiron explained. Just as he finished his sentence Jaemin came back downstairs, face even paler than before and more anxious looking than before.

   "What did the oracle say, Jaemin?" Chiron asked as Jaemin sat down on the couch next to Jeno.

   Jaemin sighed shakily before reciting the prophecy the oracle gave him:

_"Ten demigods must unite as one_

_To rescue love from the clutches of bad,_

_Through storms and showers they must travel,_

_To the land of ice with no peace beside them._

_One will die, another will fall_

_into the clutches of the evil force._

_They will lose hope and find friendship hard_

_Together they must start, together they must stay,_

_Or else the quest will end in a death."_

   Jeno didn't understand half of what Jaemin said, but what he  _did_ understand was that someone would die on this quest. "Obviously I understand most of this prophecy, it's an ancient one so I've seen it before. But I can't give you answers, do you understand it at all, Jaemin?" Chiron asked. Jeno remembered Jaemin telling him that Chiron had practically raised him so he could only imagine how he felt sending a camper he raised from a young age on a quest with pretty much a guarantee of at least one death.

   "Well, the first line is obvious, the quest will be ten heroes. Love is my mother, Aphrodite, I have no idea what the evil forces could be, there's a lot of monsters and titans out there. The rest of it is... pretty straight forward, I almost don't even want to think about those last few lines." Jaemin answered, voice quiet and low as tears filled his eyes at the thought of any of his friends dying under his leadership. Jaemin would never say it out loud in front of Jeno, but he could only hope it would be himself, he'd rather die than live with the guilt of losing a friend while leading a quest.

   "Hyperion... it must have been Hyperion..." Chiron muttered.

   "Hyperion? As in the titan god of light? What about him?" Jaemin asked, confused as to what the titan had to do with the prophecy. Weren't the titans (other than Kronos of course) locked up receiving a life-time of torture?

   "As much as I hate to admit it, there have been rumors going around Olympus that Hyperion escaped his torture and turned his prison into his own temple. I didn't want to believe it, but this pretty much confirms it." Chiron answered, letting out a shaky breath, "He was imprisoned far up north in Canada where it's too cold to live. Also, who else would be strong enough to hold a goddess captive? It all lines up and I don't see how it could be anything else."

   "But how are we supposed to fight a  _titan_ _?"_ Jaemin asked, not wanting to believe that they would have to face Hyperion.

   "Your quest isn't to take down Hyperion, that's a job for someone more experienced. Your goal is to sneak past him and get to Aphrodite. Some of you will probably have to face him but don't worry about killing him just yet." Chiron reassured, Jaemin nodding in understanding. "Now, you'll want to make sure to bring people you trust. Do you know who you'll ask to accompany you?" Chiron asked as Jaemin moved his hand to hold Jeno's.

   "I think I have an idea..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are 1000% appreciated !!!
> 
> (The prophecy I'm using was not written by me, I found it on a forum but I can't find the page so if someone has seen it please tell me so I can give credit!)


	3. Part Three

  Finding people to accompany him on his quest wasn't very hard for Jaemin. Jeno didn't need to be asked twice, agreeing immediately as he didn't want to sit at camp stressing out about whether his boyfriend was okay or not. Jaemin went to his sisters first since it was their mother who was kidnapped. Jisun and Joy agreed eagerly while Nako happily passed on the offer. Jaemin wasn't expecting Nako to want to go, she had never been interested in fighting or doing anything where she could get hurt. Her whole plan was to go to camp every summer and eventually become a fashion designer, following in the steps of other Aphrodite children.

  After that Jaemin talked to his friends, who were also fairly easy to convince, Mark agreed because satyrs were important to have along for any quest. Donghyuck agreed too, but only because Mark was going. And Renjun got excited at the invitation, ready to show off how powerful he was as a child of the big three.

At that point, Jaemin only needed three more people to have the ten the prophecy called for. He asked Jeno's siblings, Lucas, Chaeyeon and Yeji; Chaeyeon and Lucas were quick to agree, being well trained fighters they had been waiting for an opportunity to go on a quest. Yeji was hesitant, having only been at the camp for less than a month. She agreed in the end, saying that as long as she didn't have to get up close and personal with any monsters she would be fine.

  All ten of them stood at the camp entrance, backpacks slung across their backs as they waited for Argus to arrive with the camp van. Jeno couldn't help but find it amusing that every single thing that Jaemin and his sister's owned was designer. Everyone else had basic Jansport bags on while Jaemin and his sisters wore bags that probably cost more than his dad's house.

  Jeno could tell that Jaemin was nervous as he stared at the younger boy. Jaemin's hands were shaking, the one that Jeno was holding clamming up, squeezing tighter than normal. "Babe, it'll be alright." Jeno tried to reassure, running his thumb over the boy's knuckles.

  "But the proph-"

  "Don't think about it so much, just focus on completing the quest." Jeno cut in, reaching a hand up to pet down Jaemin's hair. Sure, the prophecy was important, but it couldn't be changed, no matter what they did it would stay the same. So, it was most important for them to make sure the quest was as much of a success as possible.

  "i'm sorry," Jaemin muttered, head hanging low.

  "Don't be, just think positively and everything will be alright. We've got the best quest leader we could ask for, after all." Jeno flirted, laughing as Jaemin turned bright red and punched him in the arm playfully.

  Before he could even yell at Jeno to shut up, Argus pulled up to the entrance in the fifteen seat camp van. The words "Delphi's Strawberry Service" written on the side, Camp Half-Blood's cover up name. Argus got out of the car and handed the keys over to Jisun, the only one in the group who could drive. Jeno noticed the nervousness creep back into Jaemin's mannerisms, "This is going to be the first time in 12 years I've set foot out of the camp." Jaemin muttered, voice shaky as he was hesitant to move towards the van.

  Their friends started piling into the van, Joy sitting shotgun to talk to Jisun as they drove. Chiron trotted over to where Jeno and Jaemin were standing, giving Jaemin a warm hug before wishing him luck. They bid Chiron and Argus goodbye before they climbed into the van.

  It was a good thing there was no specific time limit on the quest. The drive from New York City to Northern Canada alone would take a day or two, there was no telling how long finding Aphrodite would take. If the coordinates they had gotten from Chiron weren't accurate it would take forever to find her. They could only hope to free her quickly, they didn't want to know what kind of arguments or even wars could happen up in Olympus in her absence.

***

   The drive through New York into Canada took eight hours, by the time they got into downtown Toronto Jaemin was passed out, curled into Jeno's side. He spent the first couple hours of the drive staring out the window in awe, completely amazed by Times Square after not seeing it in twelve years.

  They pulled into a motel in Toronto to get some proper rest before hitting the road again. Jaemin paid for their rooms, renting out five so it would be two to a room; himself with Jeno, Mark with Donghycuk, Jisun with Joy, Chaeyeon with Yeji, and Lucas with Renjun. When Jeno and Jaemin got into their bed the latter immediately flopped down on the soft bed with a happy giggle and a soft sigh.

  "This bed is  _so_ much softer than the ones at camp." Jaemin muttered, rolling over and pressing his face into the pillows. Jeno laughed and laid down next to him, the two now lying face to face as Jeno gently ran a hand through the younger boy's hair.

  "The beds at camp aren't  _that_ bad." Jeno commented, the content smile on Jaemin's face making him feel lighter.

  "Yeah, but these ones are still like... ten times better." Jaemin countered, closing his eyes and leaning into Jeno's touch. Jeno moved his hand down to Jaemin's cheek as the latter opened his eyes and brought his hand up to rest on Jeno's own. "I'm kinda surprised to be honest. We got really lucky,"

  "About what?" Jeno asked as him and Jaemin both sat up, sitting criss-cross  on the bed with their hands intertwined between themselves.

  "We didn't get attacked by a single monster on the way here. I was expecting at least one or two monsters to try to track us down." Jaemin commented, brow furrowed.

  "That's a good thing though, right?" Jeno asked, optimistically.

  "Normally, yes. But we have Renjun, a child of the big three, and myself, an abnormally strong half-blood, most of the time we have monsters sniffing us out left and right. Plus, Hyperion probably knows that a group of half-bloods is looking for Aphrodite. The logical thing to do would be to station monsters all along the path from New York to his temple."

  "Well he just wasn't being smart about it then, right?" Jeno was a bit confused about why Jaemin saw a problem in the situation.

  "Not necessarily, he could be doing it on purpose. Kidnapping Aphrodite could just be a way to get the attention of the gods and their children. This, scarily enough, could just be the first step in a bigger plan.

  Just as Jeno was about to respond, Jaemin gasped and jumped out of the bed, looking excitedly out the window. Jeno got up as well, not seeing what his boyfriend was so excited about. "What's going on?" Jeno asked, standing behind the younger, wrapping his arms around his waist.

  "It's raining!" Jaemin exclaimed, turning around to face Jeno and wrapping his arms around his neck with a wide smile. "I haven't seen rain since I was five." Jaemin explained, placing a kiss on Jeno's lips before he excitedly scurried out the door to stand in the rain.

  Jeno followed him, the two boys standing side by side as rain poured down around them, the overhang on the balcony kept them from getting soaking wet. There was some thunder off in the distance, Jeno could only assume this was Zeus starting to get mad about the disappearance of his daughter, most likely the storm mentioned in the prophecy. "How is that possible, that you haven't seen rain in so long?" Jeno asked, a smile on his face as Jaemin held his hands out from under the overhang, giddy as the rain drops hit his skin.

  "The barrier around camp prevents any undesirable weather from getting in. Natural disasters, rain, snow, all of it just goes right around the camp." Jaemin explained with a grim smile, "It's nice not having to worry about weather conditions and all, but I did miss the rain. When I was a toddler my dad would bring me outside to play in the rain. Wasn't as fun as it would have been in a suburban area, but I didn't mind; as a kid I didn't even know what I was missing out on."

  "You grew up in a big city?" Jeno asked, realizing they had never talked about where they came from, before Camp Half-Blood.

  "I lived in a penthouse in Manhattan." Jaemin stated, his cheeks flushed as he looked down bashfully. "I don't normally bring it up, it feels like im bragging. Anyway, what about you."

  "Oh, I lived in Los Angeles, middle class neighborhood." Jeno answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't think I could have ever lived in a place like New York City as a kid, not enough places to play, run around."

  "Yeah, we had parks and stuff where I grew up, but Manhattan's the most popular place in New York, probably the whole country to be honest, always care more about catering to tourists than to the people who actually live there which meant not a whole ton of places for kids to play." Jaemin said, flashing a smile at Jeno as he turned around to head back into the room so the two of them could get some sleep.

***

_Jaemin's dream started in the same exact way almost all of his other ones did, he was at the park with his dad's assistant. She pushed him on the swing as he would squeal in excitement when he went too high, but her expression was filled with worry. At the time, Jaemin didn't know why she had seemed so concerned, she always seemed worried when she took him places without his dad and he wasn't sure why._

_As they walked down the streets of Manhattan, busy with people walking shoulder to shoulder, Jaemin's hand was being held tightly by the woman he had grown to see as a motherly figure. He was practically buzzing as he spoke excitedly to her, telling her about the friend he had made in his kindergarten class and how he couldn't wait to tell his father. She smiled wearily as he spoke but he was too excited to notice._

_They went up the elevator to the penthouse. Everything moved faster while he was dreaming, in real time that walk would have taken fifteen minutes but in his dreams it only felt like a minute. Knowing what would come next, he wished the walk would have taken longer._

_"We're back Mr. Na!" the assistant yelled as they walked out of the elevator. There was no response, only deadly silence. Jaemin's five year old self had been confused. Why hadn't his father rushed out into the hallway and picked him up and told him how happy he was to see him? Why didn't he even say anything at all? Why was it so quiet? Why wasn't the TV, or even his computer on?_

_"Mr. Na?" She asked before turning the corner into the living room. She gasped as her eyes widened in shock. Her purse fell to the ground and she let go of Jaemin's hand as she froze. She snapped out of it quickly, quickly turning to Jaemin and crouching down to be at eye level with him, gently placing her hands on his shoulders. "Jaemin, sweetie, I need you to stay right here, okay?"_

_Jaemin nodded his head, even more confused than before as he was consumed with fear._

_"You can't leave the hallway, do not go in the living room, do you understand?" he nodded again before she shakily stood, heels clacking on the hard wood floors as she pulled out her cell phone and entered a three digit number. He only caught bits and pieces of what she was saying, their address and the words "drug overdose". At the time he was too young to understand._

_After she hung up the phone he heard her pacing back and forth, muttering something about calling some camp. His ADHD got the best of him, he didn't think he could sit still any longer. His brain felt like it was going a hundred miles per hour and he couldn't take it anymore._

_He turned the corner only to be met with a sight that would haunt him for the next twelve years. His father laid on the couch on his back, one hand rested on his stomach and the other dangled off the edge of the piece of furniture, empty pill bottle on the floor next to his hand. His eyes were closed and there was vomit on his white dress shirt._

_The assistant turned around, her face fell at the sight of Jaemin standing in the doorway, tears falling down his chubby cheeks. His voice was small, scared sounding, "W-what's going on?"_

_She rushed over to him, crouching down in front of hims and wiping his tears away as she tried to explain things in a way a five year old would understand. "Your dad hurt himself really bad, Nana and he might not wake up." She was choked up but she was trying her hardest to keep her tears at bay in order to not scare Jaemin anymore. He may have been young but he understood what she meant, he didn't know how, or why, but his father was dead. "I need you to go upstairs and pack your clothes and your favorite toys, okay?"_

_He nodded his head and hurried upstairs. As he made his way up he heard her finally break, he heard her let out a sob before muttering what he remembered as "You stupid, selfish man" as the police were on their way._

_He thought about those words a lot growing up, when he was younger he assumed she was calling him selfish for abandoning his child. As he got older he realized she was referring to herself as well, she had been in love with him. He realized that was why she didn't mind taking care of him, she hoped to be his step-mother some day. And her muttering about camp; his father had trusted her enough to tell her everything, about who Jaemin's mother was, and why it was literally impossible to say no to him. He had trusted her enough to tell her something most people would see as insane, and she believed him. Jaemin hadn't seen her since that day, a satyr picked him up from the apartment complex that day and he never saw her again._

 

Jaemin jolted awake in a cold sweat, crying. Jeno was already awake, holding him tightly and running a hand through his hair comfortingly. Neither of them said a word, they didn't need to, Jeno just needed to hold Jaemin until he calmed down. Jaemin cried into the crook of Jeno's neck for about ten minutes before falling back asleep. Jeno followed shortly after, his mind filled with thoughts of how much he adored Jaemin and wanted to protect him from ever getting hurt like that again.

***

   When Jeno woke up the second time it was 10 AM, Jaemin was still sleeping soundly against his chest. Jeno gently shook him awake, Jaemin whined and tried to press his face even closer to the older boy's chest as if that was even possible. "What time is it?" Jaemin asked, voice groggy as he rolled over onto his back, stretching his whole body.

   "It's ten, we're gonna need to get going soon." Jaemin nodded his head, whining as he got out of the comfy motel bed. They didn't have much getting ready to do, they slept in their clothes so all they really needed to do was brush their teeth and put their shoes on.

   They walked out of their room, greeted with the sight of their group waiting for the two of them by the van, the two of them walked over to the van, throwing their stuff in the back. "I'll go return the room key then we can head out," Jaemin stated. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned around only to be met with the motel owner standing directly behind him. Jaemin didn't remember seeing him walk out of the motel office.

   "Don't worry young demigod, I can take that for you." Jaemin's eyes widened in shock, how did this man know they were demigods? He took the key from Jaemin's hand but didn't leave, a plastic looking smile seemingly etched into his face.

   "Jaemin, that's a monster," Mark muttered next to Jaemin. His voice was shaking but Jaemin couldn't tell if it was out of fear or just because he was a goat.

   "How can you tell?" Jaemin asked, hand staying next to the pouch on his belt, ready to fight if needed.

   "I can smell it and it can smell us. I thought I smelled a monster nearby when we first checked in and when me and Hyuck were in our room but I haven't smelt a monster in a while so I wasn't sure, now I'm positive."

   "Nothing I love more than demigods staying here, makes 'em a lot easier to kill." The man muttered, eyes turning a glowing red. Jaemin wasn't sure what kind of monster he was but didn't want to find out. If his charmspeaking didn't work here he could get them all killed.

   Jeno watched as Jaemin approached the monster. Every instinct in him screamed to protect his boyfriend, but he knew Jaemin knew what he was doing. Jaemin placed a hand on the man's arm, getting that puppy look on his face as his eyes turned a pink shade.

   "Sir, you don't really want to kill us do you?" Jaemin asked, a pout on his lips. He made eye contact with Lucas and the latter seemed to understand as he held his spear at the ready. The monster didn't see as his attention was fully on Jaemin.

   "Well... I guess I can spare you and kill the others. You sure are pretty..." the man was in a complete daze, that was the first time Jeno had seen Jaemin's charmspeaking in full effect. It was incredible.

   While the man was busy making googly eyes at Jaemin, Lucas readied his spear, throwing it with deadly accuracy. It hit the man just between the eyes and he exploded into dust. Jaemin shook his head in disgust, his eyes turning back to their normal brown color. He felt wobbly as he walked back over to the van. "Let's get out of here," Jaemin muttered, climbing into the van. He fell asleep the second his head landed on Jeno's shoulder, using his charmspeaking to its full potential had completely drained him.

***

   Jaemin didn't know how long he had been asleep for, but he woke up to the can being jolted to a stop. He looked out the window to see that they were pretty much in the middle of no where. Snow covered the ground and Jaemin noticed that Jeno had wrapped him in a snow jacket. Jaemin looked out the front window to see why they had stopped. There was a giant lion staring them down, it's coat wasn't made of actual fur, but rather pure gold.

   "The Nemean Lion..." Jaemin muttered, eyes wide.

   "What's a Nemean Lion?" Yeji asked, panicked.

   "It's made of pure gold, its skin is impenetrable." Chaeyeon replied beginning to pull her bow out.

   "How do we beat it then?" Jeno asked. It seemed impossible, how would they take the beast down if all they had was weapons?

   "Hercules took it down once, it was one of his twelve labors. If I remember correctly, he strangled it with his bare hands." Jaemin answered, hoping it wouldn't attack while they were figuring things out.

   "Well none of us are strong enough to strangle a  _lion."_ Lucas replied, brows furrowed.

   "The only thing that can break its skin is its own claws. Athena told Hercules that when he tried to cut off its pelt with his own knife. So if we can get one of its claws we should be able to kill it." Jaemin explained. 

   "Do you have any ideas on how to do that?" Jisun asked. Joy had been suspiciously silent, as if she was extremely focused on something.

   "Well, since it's a living being, and not an automaton like one of Hephaestus's creations, it should have normal eyes. We would need Jeno and Chaeyeon to shoot an arrow into each of its eyes. As it's stunned and confused Renjun, you use your scythe to cut a claw off, toss it to me, and I'll do the rest." Jaemin answered confidently. He only hoped there wouldn't be some minor detail he was missing that would get them all killed.

   The four of them got out of the van, nerves high as they readied their weapons. The lion was staring them down, eyes bouncing back and forth between Jaemin and Renjun. The beast got ready to pounce and Jaemin knew they would have to act quickly.

   Just as the lion was about to jump, Jeno and Chaeyeon each shot an arrow into its two eyes. The beast let out a pained roar as it pounced at the two archers. They were just barely able to roll out of the way as it landed where they had been standing. The lion blinked as it now only had its nose and ears to rely on.

   "Renjun, now!" Jaemin yelled as the lion shook its head, the loss of sight stunning it.

   Renjun got in close to the monster, swinging his scythe down on its paw, managing to cut off two claws. He tossed one to Jaemin and kept the other one for himself, just in case. The lion turned to face Renjun, who had backed away considerably. Just as it growled and went to pounce on Renjun, Jaemin saw that as the perfect opportunity to take the beast down. He got a running start before sliding between the lion's legs. He used the claw to stab where he imagined the beast's heart was and dragged the claw down its underbelly. It roared one last time before exploding into gold dust.

   Jaemin coughed as he stood up, the dust had gotten into his mouth and nose and he felt like he was going to vomit any second. Jeno approached Jaemin and tried wiping as much of the dust off of his clothes as possible. "You did great babe." Jeno muttered, nothing but love for his boyfriend filling his chest at that moment.

   "Couldn't have done it without you three," Jaemin said with a smile, stuffing the claw into the pouch on his belt alongside his daggers.

   Just as Renjun was about to pipe in they heard one of the van's doors slam behind them. They all turned around and saw Joy walking up to them, practically fuming.

   "How in the  _Hades_ did you survive that Jaemin?" she exclaimed, walking toward them, dagger drawn as she got right up in Jaemin's face, "How the  _fuck_  do you survive every single monster that gets thrown at you?"

   The others got out of the van behind them, wanting to hear what was going on. "Joy, wha-"

   "Every single monster I call to kill you just can't get the job done!" Joy yelled, getting her dagger a little close to Jaemin's neck for comfort. Jeno pulled his sword out and Renjun pulled out his scythe, both of them ready to protect the younger boy at all costs.

   "Joy, what are you talking about?" Jaemin asked, trying to keep his calm as he grew more and more uncomfortable and frustrated. His hand was itching to grab his daggers.

   "Who do you think summoned the Nemean Lion, Jaemin? Or Orythus at camp? It was all me, I charmspoke the Ares campers into hating you. You were just too dense and trusting to suspect that it was your older sister doing all of it." Joy spit. Jaemin felt his whole world crumbling down around him. He couldn't even decipher what Jeno and Renjun were yelling at her about. "I should kill you right here right now, Jaemin, but I'll leave that to Hyperion. You may be able to free our mother but you'll never defeat Hyperion. He has much bigger plans, this is only a distraction,  _brother_." she spat before walking off, most likely in the direction of wherever Hyperion was.

   Renjun tried to chase after her, shouting curse words  in both Greek and Chinese, but Jisun stopped him. Jaemin fell to his knees, tears falling down his cheeks. He felt cheated, betrayed, abandoned. All the same things he had felt after his father died, but somehow worse, it left a sour taste in his mouth. He barely even noticed Jeno pulling him into a tight embrace.

   Then Jaemin remembered the last two lines of the prophecy,  _'together they may start, together they must stay, or else the quest will end in a death'._  It was certain, someone would die on the quest. Joy was the one to fall but who would be the one to not make it out?

***

   Jaemin didn't remember passing out, but he woke up in the can sitting curled up on Jeno's lap. He was being shaken awake by the older boy, "It's time to wake up, baby. We're almost there."

   Jaemin whined as he stretched his arms out, not moving from his spot on Jeno's lap. The van was eerily quiet, both from everyone's nerves and the shock of what Joy had done. Jaemin turned to look out the window and his eyes widened in shock as the Hyperion's temple came into view. They were in the middle of nowhere in the Canadian wilderness but the giant temple just sat in the middle of the clearance, not concealed in the slightest. The temple was blinding, it looked to be made of pure gold similar to the Apollo cabin, small flames here and there melting the snow around the building. The temple wasn't built with the intention to be Hyperion's palace, it was his prison for eternal punishment; but he somehow managed to get out, probably with the help of Joy, and turned it into a temple for himself.

   Jisun stopped the van at the edge of the clearing and they all climbed out. "So, what's the plan here?" She asked.

   "I say we split up. One group of four distracts Hyperion while the other five free Aphrodite." Jaemin suggested.

   "But what about the prophecy? If we don't stick together one of us will die." Mark reminded, holding Donghyuck's hand tightly.

   "We've already been split up. The second Joy left she proved that part of the prophecy to be true. We didn't stick together which means this quest will end badly no matter what." Jeno explained grimly.

   "I'll distract Hyperion." Luke volunteered. He was one of their strongest fighters so no one questioned it.

   Chaeyeon, Renjun and Jeno also chimed in offering to distract the titan. That left Jaemin, Jisun, Yeji, Mark and Donghyuck to free Aphrodite. They approached the temple, standing at the entrance as no one wanted to go in.

   The four that were going to distract Hyperion went in first. As they fought Hyperion the other five went up the stairs and found the room Aphrodite was in. Jaemin had seen his mother many times, but she looked dull, like a mortal wrapped up in those celestial bronze chains. The pink glow that had usually surrounded her disappeared.

   "Yeji, use your knife to pick the lock on the chains." Jaemin ordered. Just then, Joy came into the room, a scowl on her face. Yeji hid behind Aphrodite frantically, hopeful that Joy wouldn't see that Aphrodite was being freed.

   "Hm, looks like I'll have to take you down myself then. Hopefully Hyperion gets rid of all of your annoying friends." Joy spoke upon seeing the group in the room. Aphrodite glared at her but said nothing, not wanting to draw attention to herself and get the Nike girl caught trying to free her.

   Joy pulled out her knife and took a running start at Jaemin. He barely knew what to do, he had trained for twelve years for a moment like this but for some reason something was holding him back. Something was screaming at him that this was his  _sister_ , he couldn't hurt her. He had known her for five years, and the whole time she had been working with a titan.

   She lunged at Jaemin, he was just barely able to jump out of the way. Everyone was too stunned to do anything, they had all known her for so long no one wanted to make the first move to fight back. Jaemin felt a sting on his cheek as he realized she had grazed his skin.

   "Jaemin! Don't look at her as your sister anymore, she's a traitor and has been tormenting you for years. You all need to think about all of the wrong she's done instead of the fake bond she created." Aphrodite advised. The desperation in her voice shocked Jaemin, only then did he realize how hard all of this must have been on her. One of her children had just betrayed her, betrayed all of Olympus to work for a titan. And now she had to watch her own children fight each other.

   "Mother..." Jaemin started, he was cut off when Joy lunged at him once again with a snarl. She grazed his skin again, this time on his thigh, deeper than the first as he felt the blood running down his leg.

   Jaemin, along with the rest of his friends, took Aphrodite's advice and focused on all of her wrong-doing. For five years he suffered torment from the Ares cabin, orchestrated by his own sister. Orythus, Aphrodite being kidnapped, the motel owner, the Nemean Lion. All of it was because of  _her_. Because of his sister the fate of Olympus, and possibly the world, was placed in his hands.

   Donghyuck pulled out his ukulele, playing a calm melody as Mark joined in on his reed pipes. Even Jaemin felt swayed to fall asleep, Jisun almost did pass out next to him. Joy faltered slightly but was barely affected. "You really think music can affect me? I've had to put up with  _this one's_ charmspeaking for five years." Joy sneered, the couple startled as they stopped playing.

   Jaemin didn't know what to do, after all those years of training he was scared, unsure of how to go about this. Yeji was still working on the goddess's chains. Jisun moved in front of him, her sword drawn. She looked absolutely furious; her sword was beautiful, it was a short sword with celestial bronze metal that was painted pink, the handle was made out of imperial gold with a pink ribbon wrapped around it, similar to Jaemin's own daggers. Jisun's sword was also a gift from their mother.

   "Why are you doing this, Joy?" Jisun asked, sword ready in case she needed to defend herself.

   "What have the gods ever done for me? Mother never did  _anything_  for me. While she was helping Jaemin get to camp and giving you pretty weapons I got  _nothing_. It took a week for her to claim me. Why would I want to help the people who did nothing for me?" Joy replied angrily, letting her defenses drop slightly. Donghyuck moved behind Joy slowly and Jaemin had no idea what he was trying to do.

   "Why do you think she never helped you Joy? She knew what you would become, she knew that you would become a traitor. Besides, the gods aren't supposed to help their children. Every demigod has to find their own way, Jaemin and I weren't exceptions." Jisun tried to reason. Each word only seemed to make Joy angrier though.

   Just as Joy was about to attack Jisun, Donghyuck lifted his ukulele above his head and brought it down on Joy's head. Only then, after all the years he had known Donghyuck, did Jaemin realize that the instrument was made of celestial bronze. "Jaemin, now!" Donghyuck shouted as Joy cried out in pain.

   Jaemin swiftly pulled a dagger out of the pouch on his belt. He threw it with perfect accuracy and nailed her right in the chest. For a moment, just a moment, Jaemin had seen the girl he had grown to know as his sister; though that faded as she dissolved into gold dust, the same way the monsters they had slain did.

  All Jaemin wanted to do in that moment was collapse and cry. He wanted to let out all of the emotions that had built up over the course of that day but he couldn’t. He had to stay strong, he was the leader of the quest, a leader had to stay strong no matter how badly they were hurting.

  All of them were stunned, the silence was broken by Yeji who had missed most of what happened, “I got it!” she yelled as she stood from where she was working on Aphrodite’s binds. The goddess stood and the pink glow immediately returned to her skin. Jaemin didn’t think it was possible but somehow her beauty was amplified once she was freed.

  “Na Jaemin, my son,” she spoke, approaching him and placing a hand on his cheek, instantly healing the both of his wounds. “You will go down in history, alongside Silena Beauregard and Piper McLean as one of the Aphrodite cabin´s greatest heroes. You have saved me and put Hyperion’s plans on hold. We don't  know what he’s planning or why, I thought the titans would back down after Percy defeated Kronos ten years ago but it appears that the remaining titans are trying again, with or without their leader. You and your friends may be the ones to carry the weight of this war or whatever is going to happen.”

  “Do you think Percy and all of the other heroes from the Titan War and the Giant War would be willing to help?” Jaemin asked, a feeling of dread bubbling up in his gut. He had known Percy for as long as he had been at camp. The year he was brought to camp was the same year Percy had shown up and Zeus’ lightning bolt had gone missing. He had been at camp through all of it, both of the wars, the attacks on the camp. He would never forget Percy excitedly telling him about all of his quests, the quest to get the golden fleece, to free Artemis, going through the Labyrinth, their defence during the Titan War, all of their journeys during the Giant War. Jaemin had looked up to Percy so much growing up, never noticing the struggles he dealt with having PTSD from his abusive stepfather, being used by the gods for years, being homeless for _months_ thanks to Hera. And now, Jaemin was a destined hero also, and he didn’t know if that was exciting or terrifying.

  “They may help out at some point, but we don’t want to pull them away from their lives in the mortal world after everything we put them through. If a war breaks out I guarantee that they’ll help but there’s a reason they only come back to camp every once in a while for a few weeks at a time. Percy’s at university studying Marine Biology and in a happy relationship with Nico, he’s finally getting a normal life, we want to let him enjoy it.” Aphrodite said with a sigh, “You’ve done great on this quest, Jaemin. You and your friends have proven that you’re all great heroes, you’ve proven that the fate of Olympus being placed in your hands is nothing to be scared of.”

  Jaemin didn’t know how to respond, he was proud of himself, happy that he had gained approval and trust from his mother. But at the same time, he felt a weight getting heavier and heavier on his shoulders. He had waited for a quest for so long, but now that he had a quest, a major role as a hero in a potential war, he felt that his twelve years of training wasn’t nearly enough.

  “You don’t need to say anything right now, Jaemin, I know it’s a lot to take in. Just know how proud I am of all nine of you. Anyway, you should head out. Your friends are still down there fighting Hyperion and they probably won’t be able to hold out much longer.” Aphrodite said with an almost sad smile. Jaemin could tell that she was still upset about Joy, whether she was a traitor or not.

  “But how will you get back to Olympus?” Jisun asked, sheathing her sword.

  “Don’t worry about me, I can get back to Olympus in a flash using my true form. Both of you, Jaemin and Jisun, show so much potential as heroes and I’m proud to claim you as my children. I wish you all good luck in any future quests. Now look away, looking at a god’s true form will kill you.” Aphrodite spoke, all five of them turned around and covered their eyes before there was a bright white light. When they turned back around the goddess was gone.

  “Let’s get out of here, we should go out the window so we don’t get caught in the fighting.” Jaemin spoke, the group nodding in agreement. He led the way, opening the window and climbing down to the ground. Luckily they were only on the second floor so they weren’t very high up.

  Once everyone was safely out of the building they ran to the front where the entrance was. They were met with Chaeyeon and Renjun stumbling out of the doors, coughing their lungs out. From what Jaemin could see there was a lot more fire than there had been when they first got there. There were spots of ashe on Renjun and Chaeyeon’s clothes.

  Yeji ran to her sister’s aid and Mark and Donghyuck ran up to Renjun who was about to collapse. They caught Renjun and let him sit in the snow, he had a huge red burn mark on his forearm and another on his calf where his pants were torn. Mark pulled Ambrosia out of his bag and let Rejun eat it, the wounds disappearing but the pain probably still there.

  “Where are Jeno and Lucas?” Jaemin asked, realizing they were still stuck in the temple with the titan.

  They’re still in there, they told us to get out while they held him off in there but I don’t think they’ll be able to hold up much longer.” Chaeyeon spoke, head turned down as Yeji pulled out some ambrosia for her older sister. Jaemin felt his heart sink. His emotions were all over the place, he didn’t want to lose anyone else he loved, he couldn’t lose both his sister and his boyfriend in the same quest.

  He didn’t know where the sudden wave of desperation and courage came from but he pulled a dagger out, ready to run in there and help Jeno and Lucas. Just as he started walking, Jisun grabbed his arm and pulled him back, “ _Do Not_ even think about it Nana.” she said assertively. “You are  _not_ going in there and getting yourself killed.”

  “But Jen-”

  “No. They could be alive still but I’m not going back to camp with  _four_ people having died on this quest,  _especially_ my brother.” She said desperately, fighting back tears.

  Just as Chaeyeon said that Jeno ran out coughing. Relief filled Jaemin’s chest but at the same time he was only filled with more dread as Lucas wasn’t with him. There was ash smeared on his cheek and a large burn on his arm. Jaemin immediately ran to his boyfriend and helped him sit in the snow, handing him ambrosia.

   "Jeno... is Lucas..." Jisun started to ask tentatively, not finishing the sentence. She wasn't sure what she was asking but she was scared of what the response would be.

   Jeno shook his head, looking down at his lap as tears pooled in his eyes, "He... he didn't make it." Jeno muttered. The group froze, speechless in shock.

   Jaemin finally broke. Everything that had happened that day flooded over him as he let out a sob. His sister turning out to be a traitor, having to  _kill_  her, having the bomb dropped on him that a war may break out, the possibility that Jeno could be dead, and the  _reality_  that Lucas was dead. He had failed, he would be returning to camp with only eight of the original ten people. Two people died on the quest  _he_ was leading.

   He felt Jeno wrap his arms around him and hold him tight. Jaemin could barely register it, he just felt completely numb, thinking of how disappointed his peers would be with him, how his failures led to one of his closest friends dying.

***

  The drive back to camp was completely silent, occasionally a few sobs could be heard but no one was in the mood for talking. The Aphrodite and Nike kids were hit the hardest as their siblings were the ones to not make it out.

  Jaemin wasn’t ready to return to camp for more than one reason. He wasn’t ready for the excitement of their return that would inevitably die down when the campers realized two people were missing. He wasn’t ready for everyone to know that he had failed his first quest.

  He also didn’t really  _want_ to go back to camp just yet. For twelve years the camp was all he knew, but now that he had seen the outside world he didn’t want to spend another winter at camp. He would always go back to camp every summer, it was his home after all, but there was so much more to do. He wanted to go to school, he wanted to  _do_ something with his life other than train everyday for his next quest. No matter how much he wanted that though, he knew he could never have it. He had no family in the mortal world so he would just have to stick to his family at camp.

  Jaemin felt the van stop, as he looked out the window he realized that they were home, on Half-Blood Hill. It gave him a warm feeling in his chest to see the strawberry field that he had so many picnic dates with Jeno in. And the Big House where he had spent most of his days as a child being “home schooled” by Chiron. Thalia’s Pine with the Golden Fleece and a large dragon at its base, the volleyball court where he had scraped his knees up an uncountable number of times. Seeing all the parts of camp that were the setting of so many of Jaemin’s fondest memories made a strong feeling of nostalgia wash over him. Suddenly he realized just how happy he was to see his home again, leaving for the quest with the idea in his mind that he would never see his home again.

  He climbed out of the van, hand in hand with Jeno. The eight demigods were greeted by their fellow campers, cheering, welcoming the group back to camp. The cheering died down when they noticed the solemn looks on their faces as well as the fact that two people were missing. Chiron approached the group, a sad but not shocked expression on his face. “Jaemin, what happened to Lucas and Joy?”

  Jaemin said nothing, head hung low as tears fell down his cheeks. Nothing needed to be said, that was enough for everyone to understand that the two half-bloods didn’t make it out of the quest alive.

  “Alright everyone, go back to your activities. The bonfire tonight will be cancelled and replaced with a funeral.” Chiron announced, the campers silently going back to what they were doing. Jaemin’s group left too, heads hung low.

  Jaemin was about to follow when Chiron stopped him, “Come with me to the Big House and tell me everything that happened.” Chiron placed a comforting hand on the demigods shoulder and led him into the house, the latter still silently crying.

***

  Jaemin walked back to his cabin after talking to Chiron. He had told him everything that happened, from the monsters to the betrayal to the final fight. Jaemin expressed that he had felt like a failure but Chiron assured him that he had succeeded. A prophecy was a prophecy and there was no way for anyone to change that. He told Jaemin that he made the right choice killing Joy. Jaemin shared the same fatal flaw as Percy Jackson,  _loyalty._ For most Aphrodite children their flaw was narcissism but Jaemin had always been a bit different. The fact that he was able to overcome his fatal flaw to save Aphrodite proved that he had great potential as a hero. Lucas, on the other hand, had died to save his friends and would always be remembered as a hero. Without his sacrifice Jeno, Renjun and Chaeyeon could have died too. Chiron reminded Jaemin that there was nothing Jaemin could have done in that situation to save every person on the quest. He didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse.

  He walked into his cabin and saw his shroud on his bed. When campers left on quests either their siblings or, in the case that they don’t have any, another cabin was tasked with making each camper a shroud if they ended up not making it back. Nako had gotten the fun task of making three of them on her own. Jaemin’s was pink with a white dove on it. He sighed as he slid it under his bunk since it wouldn’t be needed.

  Jaemin walked down to the bonfire where the funeral for Lucas was being held. They had decided not to burn Joy’s shroud, she had done nothing heroic to deserve it. She was a traitor from the start, tormenting Jaemin and working with a  _titan_. The Ares cabin even apologized, to which Jaemin assured them it wasn’t their fault, they had been charmspoken, it wasn’t in their control. Joy had a sinister way of going about things, she had made half the Ares cabin fall for her so hard that their wills wouldn’t get in the way.

  Jaemin stood next to Jeno, fitting himself under the older’s arm and resting his head on his chest. They watched with tears in their eyes as Chaeyeon spoke about her brother, praising him for being a great sibling, hero, and friend before giving her final goodbye. His shroud was white with golden embroidered wings and a spear. After the speech Chaeyeon had made sure to thank the Apollo cabin for making the shroud. They watched as the cloth was burned as they let go of him, everyone saying their last goodbye.

  Jaemin was tucked under Jeno’s arm as they walked back to the cabins after the fireworks show was over. They stood face to face outside of the Aphrodite cabin, hand in hand, just like the night they had first started dating.

  “Jaemin, I’ve been thinking, since this is the last day of camp, how about instead of staying here for the year you come stay with my family? We could finish high school together and I mean, I’m  sure you’re a bit sick of being cooped up here year after year and-”

  Jaemin cut off Jeno’s rambling with a giggle, “Of course I will, you dork. Would your dad be okay with it, though?”

  “Absolutely! I’ve told him all about you through Iris Message already.” Jeno said with a smile, feeling his heart swell at the way Jaemin’s cheeks turned red.

  “Well, it’s gonna take me awhile to pack all of my stuff and you need to get some rest so I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Jaemin stuttered out, placing a short kiss on Jeno’s lips, “Goodnight Jeno.”

  “Goodnight beautiful,” Jeno replied, earning a playful hit on the chest from Jaemin as he cursed in Greek, turning and walking into his cabin.

***

  For the first time ever, Jaemin was excited to wake up on the day everyone left camp. Normally he’d be upset, all of his friends leaving to see their parents while he stayed at camp, it was normally himself, Mark and Renjun that were still there year round. But this year it was finally different.

  He had spent  _ hours  _ packing the night before, somehow managing to fit most of his clothes into two suitcases, his makeup and other necessities like toiletries, magic books and his knife collection in his backpack. He grabbed his stuffed frog before heading out the door. He made sure to triple check the room to make sure all of his belongings were locked in his walk-in closet where the cleaning harpies couldn’t get to them.

  When Jaemin got outside Jeno was already there waiting for him, only needing a backpack for his things. Jeno took one of Jaemin’s suitcases and the two of them walked towards the entrance.

  “Oh my gods, wait you live in L.A. right?” Jaemin asked, eyes practically sparkling as they walked. When Jeno nodded the younger let out a cute almost girlish squeal, “We are  _ so  _ going to Rodeo Drive.”

  “I mean, Rodeo Drive is only really fun for celebrities who can afford designer clothes… plus it’s super crowded all the time.” Jeno said. Jaemin simply looked up at Jeno, blinking at him as if the older had forgotten an important detail, “Oh yeah, right, you’re rich, my bad.” Jeno laughed, kissing the top of Jaemin’s head.

  Jaemin gasped as he suddenly thought of something exciting, “Oh my  _ gods _ ! We are definitely getting matching designer outfits. We could be like one of those cute couples on Instagram that coordinates outfits!”

  Jeno simply laughed at the way his boyfriend was practically bouncing as he walked. It was moments like that when Jeno remembered that the younger boy  _ was  _ one of Aphrodite’s children. Regardless of Jaemin’s selflessness and willingness to fight, he was still just as in love with fashion and gossip as his brothers and sisters.

  “Sorry if I accidentally charmspeak your dad.” Jaemin said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

  “I thought you had amazing control over it?” Jeno questioned. No matter how many times Jeno tried to reassure Jaemin that his dad would like him, his nerves just wouldn’t die down.

  “I do, but sometimes I space out while talking and don’t realize i’m doing it. It’s like… especially bad with mortals since they have no resistance to magic like most demigods do. With mortals most of the time I don’t even have to  _ try  _ to charmspeak them and they somehow still end up affected, it’s just too strong I guess, there’s a reason everyone seems to think I’m so important.” Jaemin said bashfully.

  Jeno simply hummed in understanding as they walked up to the volleyball court. The day was filled with hugs and goodbyes as campers got picked up by their parents to go home for the school year. Renjun was brooding while Mark and Donghyuck stood next to him being disgustingly cute.

  “I can’t  _ believe  _ you’re leaving me to deal with these losers all on my own.” He groaned before pulling Jaemin into a tight hug.

  “I mean… you still have Donghyuck and Mark.” Jaemin replied with a lopsided grin.

  “Those are the idiots I’m talking about…” Renjun groaned as the two love birds paid them no mind.

  “Hey, on the brightside, I think that cute guy from the Hephaestus cabin, Johnny, is staying for the year.” Jaemin whispered to Renjun, a mischievous giggle leaving his lips as Renjun turned bright red.

  “Suddenly I don’t care about you leaving anymore.” Renjun grumbled as Jaemin happily grabbed Jeno’s hand and walked away to say goodbye to their other friends.

  “What did you say to him?” Jeno asked, confused and mildly concerned.

  “Oh, nothing.” Jaemin said in that high pitched voice he liked to use when he was up to something. “Just don’t be surprised if we come back next summer to news about the Hades head counselor dating the Hephaestus head counselor.” He explained with a sly but proud smile.

  They said their goodbyes to their siblings before they left. Nako and Jisun were happy for Jaemin, they both left to go home every year leaving Jaemin with the cabin all to himself. If anything, Jisun was acting like a frantic mom right before leaving for a trip.

  “You have your toiletries right?”

  “Yes”

  “And all your stuff is locked up?”

  “Yes, Jisun.”

  “And you made sure you didn’t leave anything out that the cleaning harpies can get?”

  “Yup.”

  “Did you-”

  “ _ Jisun. _ ” Jaemin cut her off, laughing as she looked at him confused. “I’m a big boy now, Jisun, I’ll be fine.”

  “Ah, sorry.” Jisun apologized with a short laugh, “I just can’t help but worry about you, you know a lot of monsters are going to be sniffing you out, right?’

  “Yup, I’m prepared. I’ve got my daggers with me at all times.” Jaemin said with a smile, patting the pouch on his belt.

  Jisun heaved a sigh before pulling Jaemin into a tight hug, “Stay safe kid, I’ll miss you.” She said, pulling away and reaching up to ruffle her brother’s hair. “If he doesn’t come back next year in one piece I’m blaming  _ you _ .” She pointed a finger at Jeno, “Be safe, don’t be like Percy and fight monsters on your school campus, don’t get kidnapped, don’t do drugs, use protection, use lube, definitely lots of lube that’s impor-”

  “ _ Jisun!”  _ Jaemin huffed with red cheeks, crossing his arms and stomping his foot. He was trying to be stern but Jisun couldn’t help but coo at the way he looked like an angry puppy.

  “See you two next summer!” She giggled as she practically skipped out of the entrance to meet with her parents.

  Jaemin sighed as they moved on to Jeno’s siblings, faces both still bright red. As soon as they were done with all of their farewells they walked down Half-Blood Hill where they met with Jeno’s father.

  Jeno immediately gave his dad a tight hug before the man turned to Jaemin and greeted him with a smile and a firm handshake. He looked to be in his mid-forties and was very clearly an athlete. He looked like he could be a coach, maybe football or rugby, he could see why Nike took interest in him.

  “So, this is the boy you’ve been telling me all about?” The man asked, laughing as his son blushed. Jaemin noted that the two of them definitely had the same smile.

  They loaded Jaemin’s suitcases into the trunk before the three of them got into the car. Jaemin and Jeno were sitting in the backseat next to each other, holding hands the whole drive to JFK National Airport. Jeno’s dad would look at them fondly in the rearview mirror from time to time. It would be a long flight to L.A., but Jaemin was ready to start his new life.

  Jaemin was excited to experience high school, to live with his boyfriend, to finally be away from camp for more than a few days. But he was also scared. He was afraid of the quests, the possible war he would be a part of in the coming years.

  But for now, he was with Jeno, and for once in Jaemin’s life he felt like everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end !! Thank you very much for reading, comments are veryveryvery appreciated, if you'd rather leave feedback on my cc its here: curiouscat.me/bttmjaemin thanks !! I've already started on a sequel to this but it may take a while to get out <3


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